Michael Pineda got hurt throwing during his suspension - MLB

Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda threw a simulated game today in order to maintain his arm strength during his 10-game suspension, but now he’s headed for an MRI exam after experiencing soreness in his lat muscle.

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports that Pineda had to cut short the simulated game and now the Yankees are worried he won’t be able to make his first post-suspension start Monday as planned.

Pineda last pitched on April 23, when he was booted from a start against the Red Sox in the second inning for having pine tar on his neck. David Phelps would likely fill in next Monday against the Angels if needed and considering Pineda’s previous injury track record any setback is awfully worrisome.

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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.