Michael Pineda got the nod for AAA Tacoma tonight and faced a very potent Sacramento River Cats lineup featuring, among others, Travis Buck, Chris Carter, Dallas McPherson, and Michael Taylor. Here's how he did:

58/86 strikes (67%)
11 strikeouts in 18 plate appearances
1 hit
0 walks
16 swinging strikes (19%)

Pineda has made six starts on the year for the Rainiers, throwing 67% strikes out of 521 pitches. Batters have swung at 239 of them. They have missed 74 times, for a contact rate of 69%. For the sake of comparison, Tanner Scheppers' contact rate in AAA is 77%. Derek Holland's is also 77%.

Michael Pineda is 21 years old.

He's coming. I hate prospect hype, and I hate the way it makes people behave, but the hype here is blowing up, and it's blowing up for a reason. The Mariners are sitting on what might become their next great young ace.