Los Angeles Angel Joel Pineiro’s Early Struggles: Just Give Him a Break

One year ago it looked like Joel Piñeiro's career was over, until he took advice from pitching coach Dave Duncan in St. Louis. Pineiro reinvented his approach, utilizing a sinking fastball. It did wonders for him. He became a 15 game-winner, numbers he had not accumulated since his 16-win season back in 2003 with the Seattle Mariners.

The Puerto Rican native pitched for the National League Central Division Champions, set a career-high with 214 innings pitched over 32 games, and his 3.49 ERA was the second best in his career since 2002. He also led Major League Baseball with 2.5 groundballs for every flyball.

Those numbers raised curiosity during this past winter's free agent market and it paid with a two-year/$16 million dollar contract with the Los Angeles Ang...

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