© Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — In a moment where baseball took a backseat to family, Johnny Cueto was delayed three weeks after staying in the Dominican Republic to tend to his ailing father last offseason.
Now, a year later, the health of Cueto’s family was one of the reasons he believes he was able to adequately prepare himself during spring training for the regular season.
Cueto accredits a strong spring to the health of his family. That was something that kept him from reporting on time last year. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/y7eHdqh8Ss
— Keaton A. Moore (@KeatonAMoore) March 31, 2018
“Like you said,” Cueto said. “I reported early. I’m very aggressive and I had the peace of mind that my family is healthy and doing well. So that kind of helped me.”
Although he pitched with the confidence that his family was was in good health, that didn’t mean it was all smooth sailing for Cueto during spring training.
In his spring debut, the Texas Rangers scored two runs off Cueto in just two innings of work. That, along with his pitching schedule being delayed due to illness, made Bruce Bochy a little uneasy.
“Early, I’m not going to lie maybe a little bit because Johnny was a little behind,” Bochy said when asked if he was ever worried about Cueto this spring.
“But, again, that’s Johnny. He knows himself and knows how to get ready. He’s been playing for a long time and it wasn’t a strong concern that he wouldn’t be ready. For him to go out and throw 100 pitches, like he did tonight with that stuff and command, was pretty impressive, considering two weeks ago he was doing a little touch-and-feel with his stuff in every game he was pitching.”
Cueto was sure he’d be ready for the regular season and he certainly appeared to be in his 2018 debut on Friday night.
Through the first six innings, Cueto retired each of the first 18 Dodger batters he faced. Although Chris Taylor ended his bid for a perfect game with a leadoff single in the seventh, Cueto got a double play ball and ultimately faced the minimum through his seven-inning outing.
Keaton Moore is a KNBR.com contributor, follow Keaton on Twitter at @KeatonAMoore