Bruce Bochy’s mind was reportedly made up on Monday: Johnny Cueto won’t start the second half pitching behind Madison Bumgarner.
Despite Bochy stating before the All-Star break that he was keen on keeping Bumgarner and Cueto atop the Giants’ rotation, the team reportedly will slot Jeff Samardzija between the two aces.
Rotation coming out of break: Bumgarner, Samardzija, Cueto, Peavy, Cain.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) July 15, 2016
Cueto starts Sunday so Samardzija starts between Bumgarner and Cueto.
— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) July 15, 2016
Cueto dispensed 32 pitches in his All-Star Game start, allowing five hits and two home runs en route to losing as the pitcher of record.The right-hander said after his brief outing that he didn’t know whether he was going to start on Saturday or Sunday, he was going to leave it up to Bochy. Evidently, the manager is fine splitting Bumgarner and Cueto, the two pitchers leading the NL in innings. Matt Cain is also expected to join the rotation, making a final rehab start on Friday before starting against the Red Sox on July 20.
With two off-days next week, the Giants could tweak their rotation and reunite Bumgarner and Cueto before playing the Yankees. Bochy told reporters that won’t happen, and the team will go forward with a tweaked rotation.
