It doesn’t take a microscope to see that Johnny Cueto was a drastically different pitcher last season than he was in his first year with the Giants in 2016. Cueto watched his ERA jump from 2.79 in 2016 to 4.52 last season and he scraped by with an 8-8 record a year after winning 18 games.
Cueto added several headlines to a season that featured more than a few unusual instances and on Wednesday afternoon, Marty Lurie told Larry Krueger that he’s concerned about how Cueto will perform in 2018.
“I’m worried, honestly,” Lurie said. “I’m worried about the blisters. I’m worried about the team not getting off to a good start. I’m worried about him losing interest. I think he’s got to get his head together, I really do. I think he’s got to come in and it’s not a happy-go-lucky atmosphere, these guys from day one need to look at this thing like ‘we’re not world champions anymore. We’ve got to go out and prove it again.’ And I’m worried about him.”
Cueto arrived to Spring Training last year in mid-March after tending to his ailing 71-year-old father in the Dominican Republic. That delay led to a tough year in which Cueto only pitched 147.1 innings and was one of several starting pitchers around baseball to deal with blisters. Lurie is confident that Madison Bumgarner and Jeff Samardija can pick up where they left off in 2016, after they both ran into their fair share of struggles last season, but he isn’t sure Cueto can revert back to the pitcher he once was and the last thing they need from Cueto, who is under contract until 2022, is anything less than his best.
“I think Bumgarner and Samardzija will give it to you, but Cueto has to get his head together and not let other things distract him and hope the blisters are gone,” Lurie said. “Because the stuff wasn’t great last year and I think that was the problem, I’d be a little worried about him. I’d like to see him day one have a good attitude and come out and work really hard.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 33:10 for Lurie on Cueto.