SAN DIEGO — More than anything, Johnny Cueto takes pride in being himself on the mound. He rarely flashes a hitter the same look twice in a row. He’ll rock his shoulders one pitch, momentarily building up anxiety for what’s to come. The next one he’ll quick pitch, barely coming set as he unfurls the ball toward home plate. Cueto’s the ultimate entertainer, and a circular dirt mound is his stage.
On Saturday, Terry Collins offered the right-hander a new venue, one he’s long sought to perform at. He asked Cueto to start the All-Star Game, a reward for a four-month performance that’s yet to end. A reward that, more than anything else, validates.
“I think it does (certify Cueto’s first half),” Buster Posey said. “You feel really good when Bumgarner takes the mound, that you’re going to win the game. I think Johnny’s kind of stepped into that same role. When he steps on the mound, we’ve got a really good shot at winning the game.”
That’s because the Giants have won almost every time Cueto’s toed the rubber. The right-hander has won his last 10 decisions, and the Giants have won 16 of Cueto’s 18 starts overall. Those numbers alone might’ve been appetizing enough for Collins to take the bait, trying to get home-field advantage in the World Series after his Mets lost without it.
When the National League takes the field at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Cueto will throw the game’s first pitch to Posey. It’s the second time in the last five seasons there’s been an all-Giants battery starting the game. Matt Cain complemented Posey in 2012, and Jason Schmidt (2003), Rick Reuschel (1989), Vida Blue (1978) and Juan Marichal (1965 and 1967) are the other Giants to start the Midsummer Classic.
Out of that list, only Marichal could stack up to Cueto’s wins at the All-Star break. He matched or surpassed Cueto’s 13 first-half wins in five seasons, but Cueto is the first Giant with 13 wins at the All-Star break since John Burkett in 1993. The rest of his credentials stack up favorably, too. He leads the NL in innings, wins and home runs allowed.
“(Starting the game) has a lot to do with the first half that I had,” Cueto said through interpreter Erwin Higueros. “The numbers speak for themselves, so I think that’s the reason they chose me to start the game.”
The selection played out like one of Cueto’s slow-developing, shoulder-rocking pitches. Clayton Kershaw, Madison Bumgarner, Jake Arrieta and Noah Syndergaard were all believed to be frontrunners for the opportunity. Then Kershaw and Syndergaard went down with injuries. Then Arrieta crumbled up in his last three starts. Then Bumgarner started Sunday, nearly throwing a no-hitter en route to opening the window for Cueto.
The Giants’ $130 million right-hander was the best candidate left standing. Bruce Bochy took to the campaign trail early last week, and Cueto endorsed his manager’s words with a complete game against the Rockies in his final start before the All-Star Game. At that point, it would have been a deliberate move on Collins’ part to look past Cueto.
That’s even harder to do when Cueto’s been on the mound more than any other pitcher, facing the most hitters in baseball and translating it to the fifth-best ERA in the National League.
“I knew how good he could be,” Brandon Belt said, “you just don’t what’s going to happen when (he) comes into a different setting, different ballpark and a different team. But he’s just done phenomenal.
“I think he has exceeded expectations, I really do. That’s saying something, because we all knew how good he was.”
That includes a Reds organization that signed Cueto as an international free agent 12 years ago. He dazzled in almost every one of his seven seasons in Cincinnati, but his stature shrunk in a small market, and for a team fluctuating in and out of contention. The All-Star nod stands for Cueto’s dominant years with the Reds as much as it does his four months with the Giants.
He was an All-Star only once with the Reds, and Cueto laments that he never appeared in the game. Even with a World Series start in his back pocket, the entertainer finally has the stage he’s found elusive. A stage Cueto thinks, and knows he deserves.
“It’s big,” Cueto said. “It means a lot.”