Joel Pineiro

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Seattle Mariners #4 prospect in 2001
  The Mariners were cautious with Pineiro coming into the 2000 season after he lost velocity off his fastball the previous year. He returned to Double-A and soon showed he was at full strength and ready to move on. He performed even better at Triple-A Tacoma, stringing together 19 consecutive shutout innings, and was summoned to Seattle in August. He picked up a win in his major league debut, holding the White Sox to two runs over six innings. Pineiro has good command of four pitches, with a fastball that touches above-average. His curveball has a chance to be a plus pitch, and he'll mix in a slider and changeup. He has always shown a good feel for pitching. Control, normally a strong suit, proved troublesome for him in Seattle. Perhaps it was an adjustment to working out of the bullpen, but he has to show he can throw strikes in the big leagues. Pineiro's role depends upon the makeup of the big league club. He's likely to continue breaking in as a reliever, though his future will be in the rotation. He might need more time in Triple-A.
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  Ranked Seattle Mariners #6 prospect in 1999
  Background: The third member of Class A Wisconsin's '98 staff to make the list, Pineiro was the first one to earn a ticket out of the Midwest League. He struggled after a promotion to Class A Lancaster, but his strikeout numbers were still excellent. He has added 15 pounds this winter and was impressing scouts with his performance in the Puerto Rican League. Strengths: Pineiro has an excellent feel for pitching and sets up hitters well. He has shown good command of his curve and his fastball has jumped to above average with the additional weight and strength. His changeup also came a long way in the last year. Weaknesses: Pineiro needs to gain consistency start-to-start and pitch-to-pitch. At his height, he needs to make sure he consistently gets good leverage on every pitch. The Future: Pineiro should start in Lancaster this season, though there is an outside shot he could go to Double-A New Haven. He projects as a middle of the rotation starter.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Pacific Coast League #10 prospect in 2001
  Pineiro actually didn't get as much recognition in the league as teammate Denny Stark, but his ceiling gives him the nod on the prospect list. He spent the first two months of the year as a starter before moving to the bullpen in June to accommodate the wealth of pitching in Tacoma. He got called up to Seattle in July and quickly pitched his way from the bullpen into the rotation and helped to continue the Mariners' amazing run. "It was tough to try to match up against them with the pitching they had," Iowa manager Bruce Kimm said. "Tacoma's the best team we faced this season." Pineiro showed an average fastball as well as two breaking balls and a changeup. He would have impressed managers more had he not struggled with his command. His control seemed to improve after he moved to the bullpen, which along with his durability raises questions about his long-term role.
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  Ranked Pacific Coast League #18 prospect in 2000
  The Mariners have an abundance of candidates for their rotation. Paul Abbott, Freddy Garcia, John Halama, Gil Meche, Jamie Moyer, Aaron Sele and Brett Tomko jockeyed for position in Seattle this year, and Anderson isn’t far off. Pineiro’s emergence is going to create more problems, though they’re the types of problems teams love to have. After leading the Double-A Eastern League with 15 losses and seeing his fastball drop from the low 90s to the high 80s in 1999, Pineiro bounced back. He won his first seven PCL decisions after being promoted from Double-A in late May, and turned in a quality start to beat the hard-hitting White Sox in his big league debut. His velocity increased to a consistent 90-91 mph, and he also showed nice command of a curveball, slider and changeup. Trembley said Pineiro was the best righthander Iowa saw all season. "He had a very good feel for pitching," Trembley said. "He threw curveballs and changeups in hitter’s counts. He was effortless."
• 
  Ranked Eastern League #12 prospect in 2000
  After struggling with his velocity and leading the EL in losses in 1999, Pineiro returned for nine starts. That was long enough to establish himself as one of the league's premier pitchers before he moved on to Triple-A and then the majors. "He's got three pitches and he stays down in the strike zone, and he has movement," Etchebarren said. "Nowadays, if you don't throw 96, you better have movement on the ball or they're going to hit you. If you throw 92, 93 straight, they're going to wear you out in the big leagues. And he has good movement down in the strike zone." Pineiro reminded Sisson of Javier Vazquez, a fellow Puerto Rican who had a similarly short stay in the EL in 1997 before moving into Montreal's rotation. "I've liked Pineiro for two years," said Sisson. "I probably had him on my list last year, and I liked him even better this year. He was stronger this year. He was probably 10 pounds heavier, but it was good weight in his legs. He's starting to grow up and fill out. He reminds me of Javy Vazquez to the tee, and he did last year, too. He's 93, 94 mph with outstanding command of three pitches. His breaking ball is good enough to be an out pitch in certain counts. His strikeout pitch may end up being a changeup, which is the same way Javy was."

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #80 prospect in 2001

• December, 1999 Scouting Report
  After struggling with his velocity and leading the EL in losses in 1999, Pineiro returned for nine starts. That was long enough to establish himself as one of the league's premier pitchers before he moved on to Triple-A and then the majors. "He's got three pitches and he stays down in the strike zone, and he has movement," Etchebarren said. "Nowadays, if you don't throw 96, you better have movement on the ball or they're going to hit you. If you throw 92, 93 straight, they're going to wear you out in the big leagues. And he has good movement down in the strike zone." Pineiro reminded Sisson of Javier Vazquez, a fellow Puerto Rican who had a similarly short stay in the EL in 1997 before moving into Montreal's rotation. "I've liked Pineiro for two years," said Sisson. "I probably had him on my list last year, and I liked him even better this year. He was stronger this year. He was probably 10 pounds heavier, but it was good weight in his legs. He's starting to grow up and fill out. He reminds me of Javy Vazquez to the tee, and he did last year, too. He's 93, 94 mph with outstanding command of three pitches. His breaking ball is good enough to be an out pitch in certain counts. His strikeout pitch may end up being a changeup, which is the same way Javy was."
• December, 1999 Scouting Report
  The Mariners have an abundance of candidates for their rotation. Paul Abbott, Freddy Garcia, John Halama, Gil Meche, Jamie Moyer, Aaron Sele and Brett Tomko jockeyed for position in Seattle this year, and Anderson isn’t far off. Pineiro’s emergence is going to create more problems, though they’re the types of problems teams love to have. After leading the Double-A Eastern League with 15 losses and seeing his fastball drop from the low 90s to the high 80s in 1999, Pineiro bounced back. He won his first seven PCL decisions after being promoted from Double-A in late May, and turned in a quality start to beat the hard-hitting White Sox in his big league debut. His velocity increased to a consistent 90-91 mph, and he also showed nice command of a curveball, slider and changeup. Trembley said Pineiro was the best righthander Iowa saw all season. "He had a very good feel for pitching," Trembley said. "He threw curveballs and changeups in hitter’s counts. He was effortless."