Francesa: Michael Pineda Has Elbow Issue; Ivan Nova Hurt

WFAN’s Mike Francesa reported on radio early Thursday afternoon that Yankees’ Michael Pineda will be scratched from his start against the Texas Rangers later in the day. “He’s not pitching tonight, and he might be badly hurt”.

Pineda is 9-7 this season with a 3.97 ERA. The 26-year-old didn’t start a game in 2012 or 2013 due to injuries.

Bryan Mitchell will start for Pineda in Texas. Nova and manager Joe Girardi both said Tuesday they expected Nova to make his next scheduled start, which is Sunday.

The Yankees might look to add Mike Leake, James Shields or Hisashi Iwakuma in lieu of Pineda’s injury.

Michael Pineda has been diagnosed with a grade 1 forearm strain, and will be out at least a month. Francesa also said that Ivan Nova was “hurting”, though a source said the Yankees are not concerned about the exhausted arm that forced him out of Monday’s start after five innings. That came days after the AL-best Royals added Johnny Cueto to their rotation and the Blue Jays swooped in to land David Price.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has been hesitant to include any of his top prospects – including pitcher Luis Severino, outfielder Aaron Judge and first baseman Greg Bird – in any deal, though with the pitching issues that have arisen he may have to reconsider.