Yankees starter Michael Pineda will have some time off to think about how he can better hide his illegal tactics on the mound moving forward. The pitcher was handed a 10-game suspension by Major League Baseball on Thursday, one day after Pineda was caught using pine tar against the Red Sox for the second time in two weeks.
Michael Pineda suspended 10 games for sticky substance on his neck in @Yankees game vs @RedSox. #MLB #pinetargate
— Heidi Watney (@HeidiWatney) April 24, 2014
Cameras caught Pineda using an egregious amount of pine tar on his palm against the Red Sox a few weeks ago, but was never confronted about it during his start. He tried to pull the same schtick again on Wednesday night at Fenway but, unfortunately for Pineda, John Farrell and the Red Sox are not dumb enough to be fooled twice.
Pineda was ejected from the game in the second inning after Farrell asked umpires to investigate the Yankee pitcher’s neck, which played host to a pretty obvious glob of pine tar. The umps were not fooled.
I understand that plenty of pitchers use pine tar or other substances to help give them an edge, but is there anybody worse on earth at hiding it than Pineda? It would not appear so. Enjoy your vacation, big guy.
