After over a year of rehabilitating from Tommy John surgery, Johnny Cueto is set to return to the Giants. Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group was among those to report the news that Cueto is scheduled to start Tuesday’s game against the Pirates, which will mark Cueto’s first Major League outing since July 28, 2018.
The usual 12-15 month timeline associated with Tommy John recovery created doubt that Cueto would be back before the 2020 season, and despite a minor back injury that it now seems will delay his return by a few days, Cueto will now get a chance to work off the rust over at least a few outings in September. If all goes well, Cueto (who turns 34 in February) should be ready to hit the ground running come Opening Day.
After signing a six-year, $130MM deal with San Francisco in the 2015-16 offseason, Cueto delivered an outstanding 2016 campaign before blisters and a flexor strain contributed to a disappointing 2017. It seemed as if Cueto was back on track in nine 2018 starts prior to his surgery, though it remains to be seen if Cueto can truly regain his past form — it isn’t surprising to see any pitcher decline in his age-34 season, even if that pitcher isn’t coming off a major arm surgery.
The Giants could potentially lose Madison Bumgarner in free agency this offseason, leaving Cueto and Jeff Samardzija as the prohibitive top two in San Francisco’s rotation. Even if Samardzija isn’t traded, there is still a lot of uncertainty within the starting five, as younger arms like Shaun Anderson, Dereck Rodriguez, Tyler Beede, and Logan Webb have all struggled this year. A healthy Cueto provides at least some stability as the club will have to decide what they have with their internal options, and weigh how to much to spend on veteran starters over the winter.
Why risk him getting hurt again when the Giants are out of the race?
Let him face live batters within the mlb?
To either 1) evaluate what they have in him or 2) increase his tradeability over the offseason
i dont buy him being very tradable regardless with that contract. however, given how few really good arms may be on the market, id be curious if someone would be willing to take him on as a salery dump.
Or a salary dump. Is a salery dump like a celery dump? Because if so…yum.
If Melancon was able to be traded, then Cueto, who’s eminently more valuable is tradeable. The question is, do the Giants, not needing to dump salary since they don’t have the budget restrains of other teams, want to trade him. If they can’t re-sign Bum, do they want to go into the 2020 season with Samardzija as the #1 guy?
Given that the stable of Beede, Anderson, Rodriquez, Suarez, and Menez has been underwhelming as a whole, I would hang on to Cueto. The Giants can afford to.
Good for Cueto. Worked hard, dropped some weight and I’m sure he’s excited to get 2-3 starts here at seasons end. He’ll have all winter to continue rehabbing and hopefully he can be a strong contributor next year. If he’s ready to go, let him pitch
I can’t wait to see him play again. He is so fun to watch pitch
I agree
Dont forget Connor Menez.
To be fair, his pitching was pretty forgettable.
When healthy,he’s been very good ie:Playoffs against the Cubs.When he struggled ,it was when he wasn’t healthy, for the Giants that is.All I know the the dude was awesome in his rehab starts and lost some weight and looks great,the Doctors have cleared him there is nothing to lose.
I meant Menez, not Cueto.
I would prefer we dump Longo, Posey and Crawford…..
Me too, but easier said than done.
I agree, but at some point you have to make changes if your players are under performing. They (including Belt) have been underachievers for the past three years. Do you remain status quo or pull the trigger and move on, even if it costs money?? Longo set the tone in the first inning in today’s finale, first and third one out and he strikes out looking. When is enough, enough? Do I expect them to win every year, of course not. But as a loyal fan I expect them to put a competitive team on the field, especially if they expect fans to pay the price for their tickets!
Longo has been a BIG part of our surges. He has played a great 3B as well as providing offense and a good veteran presence. Belt is one of the top defensive 1B there is. You can get maybe more offense, but NO first baseman available will even come close to comparing to Belt. Posey and Craw aren’t going to move.