Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
In the end, it seems as if Johnny Cueto’s offseason routine will be fairly routine.
Perhaps being another season removed from Tommy John surgery along with a strong few months leading into spring training will help him rediscover his effectiveness. A different offseason plan is not in the works.
While the Giants and Cueto had discussed the righty pitching in the Dominican Winter League as a way to get more work after he threw 63 1/3 poor innings in 2020, Cueto likely will not be participating in the league, Gabe Kapler said Tuesday.
Cueto had not played in the league in a decade, the winter ball more for developing prospects and not for 13-year MLB veterans. But after his 2020 campaign, the idea of getting more work seemed logical.
As much credit (and rightly so) as has been given to the Giants’ pitching minds concerning the upticks in Kevin Gausman’s and Drew Smyly’s game, the older pitchers they worked with, namely Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, had down truncated seasons.
Among qualified pitchers, Cueto’s 5.40 ERA was the second worst in baseball. He showed flashes of his old self — his changeup especially was nasty, hitters batting .125 off of it, but they feasted on his average 91.3 mph fastball — but too often would come apart as the game wore on.
In his first “full” season since 2018 surgery, Cueto got worse as the campaign progressed, posting a 6.65 September ERA in four starts. Kapler alluded to health issues plaguing Cueto, who had a start pushed back because of a hip ailment.
“There were moments this past season where Johnny looked like he was going to regain the form that he had at the best moments of his career, and there were other times this season where he wasn’t his healthiest self,” the manager said over Zoom. “I think that he’d admit that he was pitching through little things … that bothered him enough where he wasn’t able to be at his best all the time.”
Cueto is 34 with nearly 2,000 major league innings thrown and has said he wants to pitch until he’s 40. Barring something shocking, next season will be his last as a Giant, the club owning a $22 million option for the 2022 season that won’t be picked up.
Trade talks circled around him last season and will continue to follow him, but no teams are touching the $21 million he’s owed unless a different Cueto reports to the Giants. His regiment, especially after dropping so much weight, is not in question, and Kapler referred to him as one of “the hardest workers that I’ve been around.” Can that translate to a full and effective 2021 season?
Because he is among two sure-things in the Giants rotation (along with Gausman), the Giants need that answer to be yes.
“I think we have a chance to see a healthy and driven and motivated Johnny Cueto,” Kapler said. “I know how hard he’s working right now in the DR. That’s super exciting.”