The Rockaway Wave
Originally Published August 9, 2024
Glacier Range Riders starting pitcher Jonathan Pintaro stepped off the mound and back into the dugout after the second inning of his start, only to learn that would be the last inning he’d throw in that uniform.
His contract was purchased by the New York Mets.
“It was surreal,” Pintaro said. “Nothing describes what that feeling is. Playing baseball for so long, and didn’t get the chance out of college to continue playing in professional ball, but I got the chance to go to indy ball and worked my butt off there, and finally got the shot that I wanted.”
The Range Riders are an independent league team playing in the Pioneer League, an MLB Partner League operating in the western half of the United States. Based in Montana, they’re the northernmost team in the league and boast the best stadium in all of indy ball — at least according to Pintaro.
Pintaro spent parts of two seasons with the Range Riders, throwing 90 and 2⁄3 innings for them in 2023 and another 14 and 1⁄3 in 2024 before heading to the Mets.
He said his manager sent him back out there for one more batter after he delivered the news and then pulled him from the game, letting him walk off the mound to a standing ovation.
“My dad couldn’t even talk, he was in tears, he was watching the game when they announced it,” Pintaro said. “My mom was just yelling and getting texts from all my other family just congratulating me. It was amazing, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
It’s been a long journey for the 26-year-old pitcher to reach this point.
Pintaro attended Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, a Division II school. He played under head coach Wes Timmons, a former Atlanta Braves draft pick who reached as high as Triple-A.
Timmons said he discovered Pintaro when he got a call from a scout about, at that time, a kid who had some arm injuries and hadn’t pitched much. He was on the radar of big-time programs like Florida and Ole Miss before the injuries, but they backed off because of the injuries.
It’s his senior year and Pintaro is uncommitted, and Timmons goes out to see him pitch. He’s supposed to be on the bump for Game 2 of a doubleheader, and Timmons gets there around the sixth inning of Game 1 where he finds Pintaro playing third base.
“We watched him throw one ball across the infield while he’s just warming up, and it’s hard,” Timmons said. “And then an absolute monsoon of a storm breaks out, and we don’t get to see him pitch. So, because of his one throw across the infield, we brought him on campus, talked to him and his mom, and gave him an offer. Never saw him toe the rubber. Knew that he was injured when he got on campus, and just took a chance.”
Timmons said Pintaro tried to pitch through the injury he had coming in, but they talked him into shutting it down and getting Tommy John surgery. When he returned, he took off. He worked his way into being a starting pitcher, and a workhorse starter to boot.
“He’ll be a kid forever,” Timmons said. “He would throw 120 pitches on a Friday night and then come up to me Saturday morning and say ‘Hey, if it’s close, I want the ball. Give me the ball in the seventh.’ And for his whole career, I told him that’s not what we’re doing. I’m not gonna hurt you trying to get a win. And he was like ‘No, you don’t understand. I’ve been hurt, they fixed me, give me the ball.’”
Pintaro said managing a workload like that was easy, and he wanted to be out there every day.
He threw over 300 innings for the Shorter Hawks in his collegiate career with a 3.39 ERA. He threw 13 complete games in just 42 starts — including three shutouts — and picked up four saves along the way.
“He’ll go down as probably one of the best, if not the greatest arm that’s stepped on the campus of Shorter University,” Timmons said.
Pintaro pitched in the MLB Draft League in both 2021 and 2022, but never heard his name called on draft day.
“We did everything we could,” Timmons said. “I must have made 50 phone calls after his senior year, he had gone out to the draft league again and thrown really well … but I think the Braves had either won the World Series or were making that run, and they had 23-year-olds on the mound pitching in the World Series. And, I think Jonathan was 23. And everything I got was ‘Well, he’s too old, he’s had a major surgery, it’s just really not worth our time.’”
Timmons argued that you could put him in Double-A right away and he’d compete, but ultimately, they got no bites.
So, it was off to indy ball with the Range Riders before eventually, Pintaro got his chance with the Mets.
He was assigned to High-A Brooklyn to begin his affiliated baseball career and made his debut at home vs. the Aberdeen IronBirds, where he threw four innings of one-run ball out of the bullpen to earn the save.
Pintaro then got his first start on the road vs. the Hudson Valley Renegades and struggled, giving up eight hits and six runs (three earned) in five innings. He rebounded in his next start, a six- inning, two-run effort, but then struggled again and gave up three runs in just two and 2⁄3 innings. By the end of June, his ERA stood at 4.58.
Then, July happened. Pintaro threw 18 and 1⁄3 innings in the month and never gave up an earned run while he was on the mound. The only blemish on his record is a one-out single, which ended his day, who was allowed to score by the Brooklyn bullpen in his final start of the month.
Pintaro credited the improvement to his sweeper, a pitch that has emerged as a weapon.
“[I’ve been] going to the sweeper more,” Pintaro said. “Figured it out about a month ago, and when I land it for strikes it’s the out that I need.”
Cyclones pitching coach Daniel McKinney said Pintaro was throwing one already, and they took a look at it and felt there was a way he could throw it differently. When he would throw his sweeper his release would begin to climb, and now that he’s throwing his sweeper back at his normal arm slot, along with a new seam orientation, he’s been getting much better movement.
Pintaro said he has the most confidence in his changeup, a new pitch he said he figured out this offseason.
“Lately, it’s just been the go-to to get a strike when I need to or a ground ball,” Pintaro said.
McKinney said the development of his changeup was all Pintaro during the offseason. Originally, he was throwing a three-finger changeup and struggled with it. To fix it, he switched his grip which led to much better arm-side run as opposed to the cutting action he was getting before.
Cyclones manager Gilbert Gómez, said Pintaro has three plus offerings, the aforementioned sweeper and changeup along with his fastball which can hit 95 on his best day. The soft stuff, Gómez said, plays well off each other.
“It’s two pitches that go in the complete opposite direction,” Gómez said. “You can tunnel it pretty well, gives you the opportunity to pitch against lefties and righties. Right on left he can go with that changeup, and then right on right he can sweep it. I feel like he can go right on right changeup a little bit more. That’s something that, once you get that, now you’ve got the hitter off balance completely. I think that’s something that we will continue to encourage him to do.”
Pintaro throws from a three-quarters arm slot that McKinney described as a more extreme, unique release. He said it’s an uncomfortable look for hitters to face.
“As a right-handed hitter, the ball is starting behind you,” McKinney said. “He doesn’t get, presently, a ton of chase, just because it’s an uncomfortable look and he’s got good stuff. Just making him aware of that, and realizing the way to get the bat moving is just to put the pressure on the hitters and being in zone early and often. I think he is really starting to see the real
benefits of that, because once he gets the bat moving with the options that he has, it’s gonna work heavily in his favor.”
Commanding the zone and being able to throw his offspeed stuff for strikes has been the focus for Pintaro this season, and part of the reason for his turnaround. It’s reflected in his strikeout and walk numbers, going from 16 Ks and 9 BBs in June to 19 Ks and 5 BBs in July.
On August 1, Pintaro was promoted to Double-A Binghamton. The Mets sent Brandon Sproat up to Triple-A Syracuse a few days later, so Pintaro will presumably enter the rotation for the Rumble Ponies.
He’s 26, and will turn 27 in November, so he’s the type of arm who could move fast through the system if he continues to have success. Who knows, if he pitches well enough, maybe he’ll even be in Queens at some point next season.
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