SAN FRANCISCO–For the first time since July 31, Johnny Cueto pitched in a baseball game.
Though he wasn’t pitching on behalf of the San Francisco Giants, Cueto was happy to be back on the mound on Tuesday evening at Raley Field in Sacramento for a rehab start with the Giants’ AAA-affiliate.
Cueto logged three innings on Tuesday, surrendered three hits and didn’t give up a run while throwing 48 pitches. On Tuesday morning, Cueto arrived at AT&T Park and said he felt strong in his rehab outing, and said that he threw every pitch in his arsenal.
The Giants’ right-hander has been on the disabled list since July 15 with blisters, but on July 31, his rehab start with A-San Jose was cut short due to a forearm strain.
Cueto took three weeks off from pitching competitively before appearing for the River Cats on Tuesday, and even though the Giants are already eliminated from the National League West and trail the Dodgers by 40 games, Cueto said he’s eager to return to the mound.
“It’s exactly what you just said, my mind is just, it’s been a rough year and I just want to go out there and start pitching,” Cueto said.
Cueto acknowledged that he’ll likely need just one more rehab start before returning to the Giants’ rotation, and it’s possible that start could come on Sunday in San Jose or on Monday in Sacramento. After that, Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy believes Cueto will be ready to suit up in the orange and black and return to the rotation.
“I think that’s the plan,” Bochy said. “You always wait until the next day to see how he comes out of it but again, I haven’t had a chance to talk to him. I’m going to get in there and talk to him for a little and Dave Groeschner our trainer and get the next start down for his plan and how far he’s going to go and when we’ll put him in the rotation.”
Cueto said he hasn’t considered what a positive end to the season would look like just yet, but he said at this point, his main goal is to leave the 2017 season with his health intact.
“I mean I really haven’t thought about it,” Cueto said. “I just want to finish the year, go home, be healthy, have my head up and start thinking for next year.”
Cueto will have the opportunity to opt out of the remaining four years on his contract this offseason, but Bochy said on Tuesday morning that the Giants anticipate that Cueto will return to San Francisco this offseason.
Cueto is owed $84 million over the final four years of his deal with the Giants, and because of the time he’s missed this season and concerns about his health, it’s unclear whether Cueto would be able to command a larger contract on the open market.
Like Cueto, Bochy is hoping the right-hander will be free of injury concerns once he does return, and the Giants’ skipper said San Francisco will be cautious with how it approaches Cueto’s starts.
“Just be a healthy Johnny,” Bochy said. “Just be who he is. We’re not going to grind him out in these games. We’ll get him back on track as far as command, stuff, all of those things so as we go into next year, we’ll have a good feeling about where he’s at. The finger issues behind him, all of the issues, you know, he’s ready to go.”