NEW YORK -- First-year manager Rocco Baldelli would rather not call the Twins’ decision to sign injury-prone Michael Pineda back in 2017 “a big risk.” He prefers to think of it as “a good move.”

“It’s easy to say now, right? But I think betting on him as a person is a good bet,” Baldelli said. “Mike’s a quality Major League starting pitcher, who was, and is, extremely motivated to get back to and really surpass the pitcher that he has been. And he’s been a very good pitcher.”

But the reality is the Twins took a gamble when they signed Pineda for two years and $10 million as a free agent in December 2017, knowing that the Dominican native would miss the bulk of the '18 season as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery. (Pineda tore the meniscus in his right knee in August while rehabbing and as a result was not called up when rosters expanded in September.)

The faith the Twins showed in him is not lost on the 30-year-old Pineda as he tries to reestablish himself as a big league starter this season.

“The truth is that it’s tough to take the risk of signing an injured player, like I was at the time,” Pineda said in Spanish. “But thank God, they had faith in me and I am grateful for it. For that reason, I want to try to give my all.”

It’s not the first time Pineda attempts to come back from major surgery.

The right-hander made his Major League debut with the Mariners in 2011. He was an All-Star that season and finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting. Impressed, the Yankees acquired Pineda in a trade prior to the 2012 season, but a labrum tear in his right shoulder that required surgery delayed his debut for New York until 2014.

When healthy, the hard-throwing Pineda showed a capacity to dazzle. In 2014, he had a 1.89 ERA in 13 starts and 76 1/3 innings. In 2016, the only time he’s made more than 30 Major League starts in a season (32), he led the AL with 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

At 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds, Pineda is still an intimidating figure on the mound. Minnesota is hoping his talent allows him to become a fixture in the starting rotation this season. In that regard, the sample to date is small but heartening: In his two 2019 starts, Pineda has a 2.00 ERA and he has struck out 10 in nine innings. And while it might no longer be accurate to call him a flamethrower, his performance thus far suggests that he can have success with a fastball that has averaged 92 mph this season and has reached 94.4 mph, according to FanGraphs.

“He’s healthy. He’s throwing the ball extremely well, in every possible way,” Baldelli said. “He’s commanding all of pitches very well. His velocity, we’ve seen, throughout the spring and now early season, is back. And even on days where it’s not his absolute top velocity, he pitches, and he finds ways to get outs.”

Baldelli describes Pineda as “unselfish” and lauds the veteran’s team-first attitude. He was particularly impressed with the way Pineda handled being removed from his season debut on March 31 against the Indians -- his first big league start since 2017 -- after four scoreless innings because the Twins wanted their fifth starter, Martin Perez, to get some work in.

“As challenging as that was on everybody’s end, this is a guy who knows that it was for the sake of his other starting pitchers,” Baldelli said. “Just a very, very unselfish guy. Great teammate. He’s been wonderful on my end.”