Giants’ Cueto struggles early against Angels
TEMPE, ARIZ. » If Johnny Cueto looked like the All-Star-caliber starter he was at the beginning of his Giants tenure in his first Cactus League outing on Saturday, the right-hander opened Thursday’s game against the Angels at the opposite end of the spectrum.
During a 5-4, seven-inning loss to the Angels, Cueto gave up four first-inning hits including a tworun home run to future Hall of Fame outfielder Mike Trout in an inning that was reminiscent of his roughest games from the 2020 season.
Initial signs of concern ultimately
faded by the end of Cueto’s three-inning, 58-pitch start against an Angels club that had all of its best hitters in the lineup. The veteran right-hander actually exited his outing with a 3-2 lead and wrapped up his start Thursday by striking out Trout on a changeup that floated across the inner half of the plate and inducing a long flyout from third baseman Anthony Rendon after manager Gabe Kapler paid him a visit.
“He came out to consult with me and to let me know that I was already at 60 pitches,” Cueto said. “He wanted to know if I
wanted to face that last batter and I told him, ‘Yeah.’”
Cueto struck out four batters in two innings on Saturday against Kansas City, but he didn’t have the same control of his pitches early on against the Angels.
He needed a 7-6-2 relay to escape the first inning after giving up a double to Albert Pujols, but retired six of the final seven hitters he faced and likely would have set down six in a row had shortstop Mauricio Dubón been able to make a quicker glove-to-throwinghand transfer on an infield single hit by Shohei Ohtani.
With Cueto on the mound on Thursday and fellow right-hander Kevin Gausman slated to make his Cactus League debut on Friday against the Rockies, the Giants appear to be lining up their longest-tenured pitcher to make an Opening Day start against the Mariners in Seattle.
Kapler has not made any
announcements regarding the Giants’ projected rotation since the beginning of spring, but fans should be able to start reading between the lines by the beginning of next week.
WILL WILSON REMINDS ANGELS
WHAT THEY MISS >> One of the most interesting trades of Farhan Zaidi’s tenure as the Giants’ president of baseball operations took place at the 2019 Winter Meetings, when the club essentially purchased
a prospect from the Angels.
The Angels parted with their most recent first round draft choice, Will Wilson, because the Giants were willing to pick up all of the $13-plus million owed to infielder Zack Cozart, who was recovering from shoulder surgery and unsure if he’d be able to play in the majors again. All the Giants gave up to get Wilson and Cozart was a “player to be named later,” who turned out to be
minor league pitcher Garrett Williams.
The trade gave the Angels the financial flexibility to sign superstar third baseman Anthony Rendon and offered the Giants a chance to add a prospect they considered drafting with the 10th overall pick in 2019.
The Giants ended up using their first round pick to draft outfielder Hunter Bishop out of Arizona State, but landed Wilson six months later and now view him as a key part of their future. Wilson can play third base, shortstop and second base, but it’s his bat that the organization is most excited about.
“I think coming out of college, it was hit more balls in the air and do a little more damage than I did in that aspect,” Wilson said.
In a start against his former club, Wilson showed the Angels what they’re missing. After three straight Giants hitters drew walks in the second inning, Wilson drilled a three-run double down the left field line to give the team a 3-2 lead.