Earthquakes coach Mark Watson doesn’t reveal lineups until just before a game.

So, it is impossible to know if right back Pablo Pintos will make his Major League Soccer debut Saturday when San Jose plays the last-place Montreal Impact.

But the Earthquakes (6-11-10) might as well look ahead with seven games left in a cursed season in which they rarely fielded a full squad. After all, San Jose is suffering through an eight-game winless streak that has doomed its playoff hopes for the second consecutive year.

Pintos, a 6-foot Uruguayan defender, could provide a glimpse at the team’s 2015 prospects when the Earthquakes open an 18,000-seat stadium. Acquired in the past month, Pintos, 27, is part of a reclamation project management hopes returns the team to the upper echelon of the Western Conference.

San Jose also signed Argentine forward Matias Perez Garcia this summer to help build for the future.

“San Jose is a team that achieved championships in the past and I hope to do the best I can for the club,” Pintos said in Spanish.

Pintos probably won’t have an immediate impact on a team that has allowed 19 goals during the winless streak. But coaches hope the Montevideo native solves the problem on the right side of the defense since trading fullback Steven Beitashour to Vancouver before the season.

Watson recently has been playing left-footed Shaun Francis on the right as a fill-in because projected starter Brandon Barklage struggled this season. The spot should soon belong to Pintos barring unforeseen issues.

“He brings a level of comfort at that position,” Watson said. “He knows how to play in different formations against different players, big, small, fast, technical.”

However, Pintos comes with questions. He appeared only about a dozen times last season while playing for Argentina’s Atletico Tigre and Uruguay’s Defensor Sporting. In fact, the Uruguayan has played little in four years.

But Pintos doesn’t consider coming to America as a second chance.

The well-traveled defender said MLS interested him after it signed such famous players as David Beckham, Henry Thierry and some top South American talent.

“It is a league that is growing so much,” he said. “It’s something I was excited to do.”

The Earthquakes offer Pintos a chance to rebuild a flagging career, whether he acknowledges it or not. Pintos could become an important piece of the defense next season that should also include veterans Clarence Goodson and Jordan Stewart. (San Jose management will decide the future of its defenders after the season.)

Pintos wants to use the rest of the year to get acclimated to his new team.

“You got to go step by step, get comfortable with teammates and then move on to the next step,” he said.

Pintos was groomed in Defensor Sporting’s academy as a kid. He climbed the ranks to represent the Montevideo club in Uruguay’s top division.

Pintos also played in Argentina, Spain and Turkey, but returned to Defensor last season. All the moves has made it easier for Pintos to adapt to new places.

“I will have a chance to study English and learn new customs,” he said. “It is nice to see how things work in different countries.”

Such as?

Well, Pintos experienced a career first this week when joining the Quakes in a yoga session.

This is a guy who likes to stretch his boundaries.

Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/elliottalmond.