After getting knocked around on Tuesday during a 4-1 loss to the Cubs, Giants starting pitcher Johnny Cueto told reporters that he’s now dealing with two blisters on his throwing hand.
Cueto has had a blister on his middle finger since the spring, before the second one popped up days ago. The blister’s seem to be having an effect on Cueto, who does not look like the same pitcher he was last year, posting a 4.64 ERA through his first 10 starts.
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow is concerned with how the blisters are impacting Cueto, pointing specifically to an average fastball velocity that at 91.2 MPH is the lowest of his career.
“When the ball comes off of your fingers, the spin ratio is what gives you a sharper break on your breaking balls, it gives you a bigger sink on your sinkers, and that’s the point where you pull down right at the last instance of your throwing motion, and that gives you the finish on your pitch,” Krukow told Murph and Mac Wednesday morning. “And if you’ve got a blister at the end of your finger tip, that will alter your spin ratio. And that alters your movement, it also alters your command. It’s not a lot, but it’s enough. Enough to take some of the sink off, enough to finish that little extra jump, that extra hop you get on a good fastball, and it affects your velocity. We’re seeing Cueto this year, he has been down velocity-wise when you compare with what he did this time last year. So, it’s an issue, but he doesn’t want to stop throwing because he knows the importance of going out there trying to get that callous right. He’s in tune with what’s going on with his finger tips, but it is definitely affecting him.
“Once you blister up, I mean good luck. It’s really a fine line as Cueto said, and it’s so true, you know you want to keep throwing and callous up that blister. But if you keep throwing and that blister becomes a blood blister, now you’ve got an issue. It says a lot about Johnny Cueto. Number one, he pitches in pain.”
Krukow explained that the blister situation is a bit of a catch-22. If Cueto goes on the DL his callous will become soft and more likely to blister. If he keeps pitching, he’s at risk for more serious injury.
“Here’s the problem. If you DL, the callous becomes soft, and then you’re more susceptible to another blister, so it’s an ugly fine line. The thing that I worry about, if you throw around that pain on your finger tip, that alters your arm slot, that alters the whole set of mechanics and that really can injure your arm. I’ve seen guys that have had their careers ruined because they’ve thrown around pain, they’ve altered their motion and they threw out their shoulder or their elbow.”
Listen to the full interview below. For Kruk’s comments on Cueto, skip to 5:20