John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Johnny Cueto wants to pitch. The better he pitches, the more he will pitch, and the happier both he and the Giants will be.
He wanted to eat more innings last season, when his 5.40 ERA was the second worst among qualified starters in baseball. There were times when he looked solid and then got pulled, not lasting past 5 2/3 innings until his fifth start of the shortened year.
When the Giants are being careful in regard to both workloads and optics — if balls start getting hit hard, even if they don’t find grass — it is easy to have a quicker hook.
In reflecting on his season, Cueto pointed to the shortened, 60-game campaign that represents a tiny sample size to judge; he pointed at it being his first full season — if it can be called that — since 2018 Tommy John surgery. And he pointed at his usage rate.
“I think one of the things was the innings,” Cueto said through interpreter Erwin Higueros after the Giants pitchers’ and catchers’ first official workout Wednesday. “I wanted to pitch longer. I wanted to throw more pitches. But the coaching staff and the manager were taking care of me. So hopefully this year I can pitch longer.”
Cueto and Kapler have not talked about the subject yet, and the manager suggested they might not even need to formally to hash anything out. The better Cueto pitches, the more the 35-year-old will pitch.
“Every good starting pitcher wants to pitch as deep into games as they possibly can. Johnny’s competitive — this is completely refreshing,” Kapler said over Zoom. “I respect that our pitchers want to pitch deep into games, and I encourage it. I’m excited to hear that.”
The Giants trying to rein in Cueto extended to this offseason, too, as the two-time All-Star wanted to pitch in the Dominican Winter League, which would have been a rarity for someone so accomplished but would have had sentimental value. The Giants, Cueto said, wanted him to take his time off to get him better prepared for the season.
For the Giants to be respectable in 2021, their high-risk, high-reward rotation will need to have more hits than misses, and Cueto pitching like a No. 2 rather than a No. 5 would be significant. Last year, his trademark changeup was as excellent as ever, his second-most-thrown pitch, against which batters hit .125. The most frequent pitch he threw, though, was his fastball, against which batters teed off (.353).
There is work to be done with the same pitching minds who helped Kevin Gausman and Drew Smyly take steps and are trying to do the same with Alex Wood, Anthony DeSclafani and Aaron Sanchez.
“One more year healthier, a little bit more familiarity with our pitching coaches, a little bit more familiarity with me,” said Kapler, whose Giants have amassed an impressively deep bullpen that he will be able to deploy frequently. “We’re going to work better together.”
Cueto and his catcher will undoubtedly work better together. No longer will he and Joey Bart have their issues, which led to Chadwick Tromp becoming his personal catcher. Buster Posey, who called Cueto “one of my favorite pitchers that I’ve ever caught,” is back.
That might be the biggest source of optimism that could allow Cueto to pitch better. And in doing so, pitch more.