Johnny Cueto
Johnny Cueto Ortiz is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Miami Marlins, and Los Angeles Angels.
Cueto made his MLB debut in 2008. By 2011 he emerged as the ace of the Reds pitching staff and one of the top pitchers in the National League. He won 19 games and posted a 2.78 earned run average in 2012, finishing fourth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award and helping lead the Reds to the NL Central title. In 2014, he won 20 games with a 2.25 ERA and tied for the NL lead in strikeouts with 242, finishing as the runner-up for the Cy Young Award.
In 2015, Cueto won in his appearance in Game 2 of the World Series, pitching a 2-hit complete game for the Royals against the Mets, the first complete World Series game pitched in more that 20 years. It is his only appearance in a World Series to date.
In 2016, Cueto won 18 games with the Giants while posting a 2.79 ERA, helping lead them to the postseason, where they lost in the NLDS, and he achieved another top-10 finish in the Cy Young voting. He was an MLB All-Star in 2014 and 2016, and was chosen as the starting pitcher for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game. From 2011 to 2017, Cueto accumulated the second-lowest ERA of all pitchers with at least 750 innings pitched, managing a 2.94 ERA alongside a 90–51 record in innings. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018.
Early life
Johnny Cueto Ortiz was born on February 15, 1986, in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic.Professional career
Minor leagues
Cueto signed with the Reds in 2004 as an undrafted amateur free agent for a $35,000 signing bonus. He was in the minor leagues for three seasons, and excelled at many levels, but really turned heads during the 2007 season.Cueto started his career for the Gulf Coast Reds of the Rookie Gulf Coast League, posting a 5.02 earned run average, before being promoted to the High-A Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League, where he finished his 2005 season. He has had progressively better seasons since.
In 2006, Cueto was assigned to the Low–A Dayton Dragons, and posted a 2.61 ERA, and a 0.88 walks plus hits per inning pitched ratio. While with Dayton, on May 13, 2006, he threw a rain-shortened no-hitter against Wisconsin. He was later promoted back to Sarasota, where he finished his season for the second consecutive year.
In 2007, Cueto was placed once again in Sarasota. He pitched 14 games for the team, before going on a hot streak and advancing through three levels in one season. He played for the Double–A Chattanooga Lookouts and Triple–A Louisville Bats throughout the rest of his 2007 campaign. He was named the Reds' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Cincinnati Reds (2008–2015)
2008: Rookie season
Cueto made his MLB debut on April 3, 2008, for the Reds at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he carried a perfect game through five innings before surrendering a home run to Justin Upton in the top of the sixth inning. The home run was the only baserunner he allowed, striking out 10 in seven innings. Cueto was credited with the win in his debut, as the Reds hung on to win 3–2. Cueto was the first Red since 1900 to throw ten strikeouts in his MLB debut. He was also the first MLB pitcher to have 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in his debut. He was the third in MLB history to have 10 strikeouts and give up only 1 hit. For the game, Cueto's ERA was 1.29 on 92 pitches. Despite his impressive debut, Cueto was inconsistent for the most part on the season. In his first two starts of the season, Cueto was 1–0 with a 2.02 ERA in innings with 18 strikeouts, while he went 1–5 in innings with a 6.65 ERA across his next eight. Cueto struck out several batters in his starts, but found himself unable to pitch himself deep into games rather frequently due to high pitch counts and giving up many home runs. At the end of the 2008 campaign, he finished with a 9–14 record with an ERA of 4.81 in 31 starts. While he pitched only 174 innings, Cueto struck 158 batters, good for a K/9 ratio of 8.17, the eighth best in the National League.2009: Hot and cold
Cueto started 2009 as the Reds #4 starter. Cueto gave up four earned runs in six innings in his season debut in a 10–2 loss to the Pirates, despite striking out nine. Over his next three starts, however, Cueto posted a sub 1.00 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 18 innings. Cueto pitched a career high eight shutout innings on May 3, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out in a 5–0 win over the Pirates. Between April 22 and May 29, Cueto had a nine start span where he pitched at least seven innings and allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but one of those starts. Cueto's ERA continued to be one of the strongest in the National League through the first three months of the season. On June 14, he took the lead for the lowest NL ERA, with a mark of 2.17 in 87 innings. His BB/9 lowered as the 2009 season progressed. Two weeks before the All-Star game, Cueto was 8–4 with a 2.69 ERA, a major improvement from the previous season. On July 6, 2009, Cueto suffered the worst defeat in his young career. Taking the mound against the Phillies, he allowed nine earned runs on five hits, walking three. To top it off, all this happened in the first inning, and Cueto was taken out of the game after only recording two outs. The Phillies scored 10 runs that inning. Cueto struggled following that defeat, turning in a 5.91 ERA over his final 13 starts while only managing a 3–6 record, although the final six starts were more promising. Cueto finished the season with a record of 11–11, and an ERA of 4.41 in 30 starts. In innings, Cueto struck out 132 batters and walked 61 batters, which despite a lower BB/9 ratio resulted in a lower K/BB ratio than his rookie season due to a decrease in strikeouts per nine innings.2010: Increasing consistency
Cueto started the 2010 season as the Reds' third starter. On May 11, Cueto pitched a one-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He struck out eight, walked none and hit one batter, leading the Reds to a 9–0 victory. In his 11 starts following his shutout before the All-Star break, Cueto went 6–1 with a 3.01 ERA, which included a streak of six consecutive decisions being wins, a new career high.On August 12, Cueto was suspended seven games for what Major League Baseball described as his "violent and aggressive actions" in a bench-clearing brawl in the first inning of the Reds' August 10 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. While pinned to the backstop, Cueto began to kick wildly at various Cardinals, injuring Chris Carpenter and Jason LaRue. LaRue suffered a severe concussion in the brawl, and was forced to retire after the season.
Cueto finished the 2010 season with a 12–7 record and a 3.64 ERA in 31 starts, pitching innings, striking out 138 batters, but giving up only 56 walks, 19 home runs and 181 hits. In Game 3 of the NLDS, he allowed two runs in five innings of work and took the loss as Cole Hamels pitched a shutout. Following the 2010 season, the Reds and Cueto agreed to a four-year, $27 million contract.
2011: Breakout year
Cueto began the season on the disabled list due to irritation in his right triceps suffered towards the end of spring training. He returned on May 8, pitching six scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs. Because he missed several starts while on the disabled list, Cueto didn't become eligible for the ERA race until his start against the San Francisco Giants on July 31, where he pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout. He then took the Major League Baseball lead with a 1.72 ERA. He lost eligibility, twice, due to lack of innings since, but retook the National League lead in ERA after throwing seven innings of shutout ball against the Colorado Rockies on August 11. As the season progressed, Cueto began incorporating more and more of a turn to his windup. At the start of the season, his windup featured a conventional step, keeping his body pointed at third base before delivering to the plate. However, by late July, Cueto's torso was facing second base and he was pausing for a brief moment. Many people have compared this turn to Boston Red Sox great Luis Tiant's famous turn. As of August 25, he was tied with Jered Weaver for the best ERA in all of Major League Baseball at 2.03. On August 28, Cueto struck out a career-high 11 batters against the Washington Nationals, receiving a no-decision as he threw seven innings of two-run ball.Cueto's bid for the ERA title and season came to an end after he strained a muscle in his back on September 15, while pitching vs the Cubs. On September 20, the team decided to shut down Cueto for the year without risking further injury. Cueto finished the season with a 9–5 record and a 2.31 ERA in 156 innings across 24 starts – six innings short of qualifying for the ERA title. Cueto struck out 104 batters, and gave up just 123 hits, 47 walks and eight home runs. He also pitched three complete games, one of which was a shutout.
2012: Breaking the 200-inning plateau and Cy Young finalist
Cueto started on Opening Day for the Reds and went on to win 19 games against only 9 losses with a 2.78 ERA in 33 starts, giving up 205 hits and 15 home runs across 217 innings and striking out 170 batters, while walking just 49. Cueto established career bests in HR/9, BB/9, and K/BB ratios with 0.62, 2.03, and 3.47 respectively, while his 7.05 K/9 ratio was his best since his rookie year in 2008. It was the first time in his career he pitched 200 plus innings in a single season. Cueto also threw two complete games. In his first one, on May 4 against the Pirates, Cueto allowed just one run on seven hits, striking out four and giving up no walks. Cueto threw another complete game against the Cleveland Indians on June 12, giving up just one run on six hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks. During an eleven start stretch between May 30 and July 28, Cueto threw innings without allowing a home run, a stretch in which he posted an 8–3 record with a 2.27 ERA. His streak came to an end on August 2, when Eddy Rodriguez hit a home run off Cueto in a game versus the Brewers. Cueto threw 23 quality starts, and ranked third in wins and ERA, fourth in complete games, fifth in innings pitched, eighth in hits allowed and ninth in winning percentage in the National League, while breaking his career bests in all of those categories. The Reds clinched the NL Central Division title for the second time in three years, and the second best record in baseball behind the Washington Nationals.Cueto started Game 1 of the National League Division Series against San Francisco, but left after only eight pitches because of a strained muscle in his back. After the Giants won Game 3, forcing a fourth game of the NLDS, the Reds replaced Cueto on the playoff roster with Mike Leake, who was their fifth starter during the season. Cueto finished fourth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award, behind winner R. A. Dickey, Clayton Kershaw and Gio González.