OAKLAND–With an 8-5 loss to the Oakland A’s on Monday evening, the San Francisco Giants slipped percentage points behind the Philadelphia Phillies to drop the team to the bottom of the Major Leagues in winning percentage. But even though the Giants fell 27 games below .500, it was hardly the only bad news San Francisco received.
Down the road in San Jose, right-hander Johnny Cueto exited his Minor League rehab start after throwing just 34 pitches, when the Giants were hopeful Cueto would throw 75 pitches without complications. Instead, though, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said after Monday’s game that Cueto had experienced tightness in his forearm and needed to be removed from the game earlier than he anticipated.
After his start, Cueto was diagnosed with a mild flexor strain, and on Tuesday, the Giants learned that Cueto does not have any ligament damage in his right arm. Though San Francisco obviously would prefer to have Cueto in its rotation –even in a lost season– the news that Cueto’s injury is not considered particularly serious is a positive development for the Giants.
“I think this is a pretty good prognosis overall,” Giants’ trainer Dave Groeschner said.
While there’s no timetable for Cueto’s return, Groeschner said the team will give Cueto a week off from throwing before reevaluating him in seven days.
“We’ll give him a week off and have him do some treatment, rest and conditioning,” Groeschner said.
Cueto exited his July 14 start against the San Diego Padres after throwing just four innings, and the next day, the Giants placed him on the 10-day disabled list with blisters.
Cueto battled blister issues earlier this season, but after the All-Star break, the blisters had reached a point at which they limited the Giants’ right-hander’s ability to grip his pitches properly, specifically his slider. After taking seven days off from throwing a baseball altogether, Cueto waited an additional couple of days before throwing his first bullpen.
While the Giants were in Los Angeles over the weekend, San Francisco made the determination to have Cueto pitch in a rehab start before returning to the club, and that’s when the Giants decided upon a 75-pitch stint in San Jose.
Groeschner said that before Cueto threw in San Jose on Monday, he had made it through a few rigorous bullpens and that Cueto had indicated he was comfortable on the mound.
“He said he felt really good with it, he made it through some pretty good bullpens,” Groeschner said.
Even though Cueto will not pitch for the next week, both Groeschner and Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy are optimistic that he’ll return to the mound this season.