Cueto gives Royals needed edge
Kansas City trades prospects for unconventional but effective starter
DENVER Pitchers are constantly preached to about the importance of repeating their mechanics so they can maintain command and give batters the same look with different pitches.
Johnny Cueto thrives on doing the opposite.
The staff ace the Kansas City Royals are acquiring, after completing a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, defies convention for most successful pitchers in a number of ways.
Rather than the towering figure who throws thunderbolts from atop the mound, Cueto is listed as 5-11 and a chunky 220 pounds.
With a Luis Tiant-like windup he adopted in 2010, he twists, turns and hesitates before releasing the ball, when he’s not catching an unsuspecting batter unaware by quick-pitching him.
And though Cueto studies video of hitters and prepares assiduously, his pitching patterns are indiscernible, as he often simply reacts to what he sees instead of clutching to a game plan.
“He has the inherent ability —
and I really believe it’s inherent, not taught — to read hitters’ approach, their swing, and make the right adjustment in his pitch sequences, in the movement or speed of his pitches,” Reds manager Bryan Price says. “He’s way more talented than just the physical attributes of a hard thrower who can throw a good sinker, slider and change.”
Yet he has those, too, which has made for a maddening puzzle for hitters. In the last six seasons, Cueto ranks second in the majors in ERA (2.72) and fourth in winning percentage (.655). Since 2011, he’s second to Clayton Kershaw in ERA (2.51), batting average against (.216) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage allowed (.606), despite pitching his home games at the homer-happy Great American Ball Park.
No wonder the Royals were willing to give up three solid pitching prospects in lefties Brandon Finnegan, who reached the majors last season; John Lamb and Cody Reed for Cueto, who will become a free agent after the season.
A year after barely falling short of their first World Series championship since 1985, the Royals have the best record in the American League and a commanding lead in the Central Division, but they lacked an ace. Their top candidate for that spot, fireballing Yordano Ventura, was demoted to the minors last week after his ERA climbed to 5.19. In addition, Kansas City lost veteran starter Jason Vargas to a season-ending elbow injury Tuesday.
Cueto, who plans to join the Royals on Tuesday in Cleveland, fills a need that would have become glaring in the postseason.
“Johnny Cueto is a top-five pitcher in the major leagues,” Reds veteran Skip Schumaker said. “I played with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, (Zack) Greinke and Kershaw, and Johnny’s in that category.”
The trade brought relief and some sadness to Cueto, who signed with the Reds as an 18year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2004.
“Now I can just play baseball without any worries,” said Cueto, the runner-up for last year’s National League Cy Young Award. “There was this storm swirling around me, whether I was going to get traded here or there, and now that it’s gone I feel better.”
When he arrived in the majors in 2008, Cueto found a compadre in fellow Dominican Edinson Volquez, now his Royals teammate, and also established a bond with assistant trainer Tomas Vera, who doubles as his interpreter. Vera is among several people in the Reds organization who marvel at Cueto’s smarts despite his limited formal education, noting his investment savvy. Among his prized possessions is a large ranch back home where Cueto converts from star pitcher to Dominican cowboy.
With his relaxed demeanor and easy smile, Cueto was a popular figure in the Reds clubhouse and was especially tight with catcher Brayan Pena.
First baseman Joey Votto, who grew closer to Cueto by learning Spanish, calls him “one of my favorite teammates in my career.”
That comfort zone was difficult to leave. Yet the uncertainty of his status had taken a toll on Cueto, who is 7-6 with a 2.62 ERA in 19 starts this season. He acknowledged as much in a Spanish-language conversation with USA TODAY Sports on Saturday.
“I put it out of my head, but it’s not easy. The mind can play games with you,” he said. “You hear, ‘They’re going to trade you,’ and you say, ‘I know. I’m waiting,’ but it’s hard. I’ve spent about 12 years with this organization. Started as a kid. It’s hard, but you realize this is a business.”
Concerns started to crop up among interested suitors when Cueto had two rough starts as the trade deadline approached, including a rain-interrupted fourinning outing in which he gave up two runs and six walks against the Cleveland Indians on July 19. In addition, he missed a start with a sore elbow May 24 and had another pushed back three days.
With scouts tracking his every move, Cueto put any issues to rest with a brilliant performance Saturday night, holding the Colorado Rockies’ potent offense to four singles in eight scoreless innings while firing fastballs in the mid-90s as late as the eighth.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss says Cueto “is very clever how he attacks hitters,” and one of those ways is eschewing the twisting windup, in which Cueto’s No. 47 faces home plate, and instead firing a pitch from a quick motion, throwing off the batter’s timing.
Cueto, 29, might need all his wiles to polish what so far has been a tarnished playoff résumé. He is 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA in three starts and is best remembered for dropping the ball on the mound and looking frazzled while Pittsburgh Pirates fans derisively chanted his name as the Reds lost the 2013 wild-card game 6-2.
Pena, who was Cueto’s primary catcher when he won 20 games last season and again this year, points out Cueto has fared well in his three outings at PNC Park since then, going 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA as Cincinnati won all three games. Pena also mentions the July 7 start against the first-place Washington Nationals as proof that his pal is ready for any challenge. Matched up with Max Scherzer, Cueto threw a two-hit shutout and struck out 11.
Now, moving from last place in one Central Division to first in another, with a free agent payday that likely will reach nine figures in the offing, the stakes increase.
“You don’t win 20 games if you can’t handle pressure,” Pena said. “You had to beat some good pitchers. That’s how he quiets his critics, showing he’s one of the best pitchers in the majors.”