Cueto ‘in line’ to get Opening Day start
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> When Giants starter Johnny Cueto faced Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw in a Cactus League game in Glendale last week, many considered the matchup an unofficial preview of Opening Day.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Monday that Kershaw will start against the
Giants on March 26 at Dodger Stadium and on Tuesday, Giants manager Gabe Kapler came ohso-close to writing Cueto’s name in Sharpie atop his team’s rotation.
“He’s definitely in line to start the first game of the season,” Kapler said. “I’ll let you guys know when we’re ready to announce that.”
Cueto has never started on Opening Day for the Giants, but he did so in four consecutive years for the Reds from 2012-2015.
“Nobody has talked to me about it, but if they give me the ball for game one, I’ll do it,” Cueto said through Spanish-language translator Erwin Higueros. “If not, whenever they give me the ball, I’ll be ready.”
At this point in the spring, Cueto —who is nearly 20 months removed from Tommy John surgery— could use a little more fine-tuning. After allowing four runs in a loss to the Dodgers last week, he gave up five in 1 2/3 innings in a 16-3 blowout loss to the Cubs on Tuesday.
With his fastball velocity hovering around 90-93 miles per hour, Cueto surrendered nine hits —including six in a row to open the second inning— as the Cubs peppered the middle of the
diamond with hard contact.
In preparation for his 13th major league season, Cueto isn’t overly concerned about spring training results and said he believes his arm strength and stamina are in good shape as the regular season approaches. As a competitor, he did express some disappointment in Tuesday’s results.
Cueto’s 12.79 Cactus League ERA is much higher than he or the Giants would like it to be, but he’s battled
through challenging springs before and flipped the switch at the beginning of the season. In the right-hander’s first spring with the Giants in 2016, Cueto posted a 9.58 ERA in three spring outings before emerging as the starter for the National League AllStar team in one of the best seasons of his career. TAKE BART? NOT AN OPTION >> The Giants made a handful of roster moves Tuesday including reassigning the organization’s top prospect, Joey Bart, to minor league camp.
Bart was 7-for-16 with two home runs and a 1.401
OPS in limited Cactus League opportunities, but Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said the organization felt it was time for Bart to receive more consistent playing time.
Despite impressing executives and coaches with his advanced approach at the plate for the second straight spring, Bart was not viewed as a candidate for the Opening Day roster. With 16 days remaining until the Giants meet the Dodgers in the 2020 opener, Zaidi said the club needs to spend more time evaluating the top backup catcher candidates in camp, Tyler Heineman and Rob Brantly.
“Frankly we didn’t see him making the Opening Day roster and it was a possibility to send him out in the first wave (of cuts),” Zaidi said. “It was really a testament to the work he did and he had earned the right to stay a little beyond the first round.”
Zaidi wouldn’t hint at where Bart will open the minor league season, but Triple-A Sacramento remains a strong possibility. For the first time since Bart was drafted with the No. 2 overall pick in 2018, Zaidi said the organization will begin having internal discussions about giving the slugger some playing time at first base this year.