Johnny Cueto has had a resurgent 2018 season so far for the San Francisco Giants. That is, when he hasn’t been injured.
Cueto currently has the best ERA among all qualified pitchers in the major leagues at 0.84, and is 3-0 in five games started this season. However, despite healing from his blister issues suffered a year prior, he has struggled with pain in his right (throwing) elbow and a sprained ankle this season, already causing him to miss multiple starts. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list on May 1 with the right elbow inflammation, but recent reports indicate that he may be out for much longer than just 10 days.
The Giants have scheduled a visit Monday for Cueto with renowned sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews, according to Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group.
Johnny Cueto will see Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Giants will decide what to do after that.
— Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) May 4, 2018
Crowley added that the Giants had already had at least one opinion on Cueto’s injury.
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle noted Friday that the Giants are continuing to be tight-lipped about Cueto’s injury, which does not bode well for his chances to return to the mound anytime soon.
Cueto sees Dr. Andrews Monday. Couldn’t get in sooner. Team will not even say what they suspect the injury is till they have all opinions. Pretty obvious it’s serious. #sfgiants 
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) May 4, 2018
Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was even more direct, noting that based on the organization’s lack of transparency, it is unlikely that Cueto will avoid surgery.
Giants have been quiet about this all week, but there's not a lot of optimism within organization that he'll avoid surgery. https://t.co/gXWrdGAxlQ
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) May 4, 2018
As Schulman said in a piece detailing Cueto’s visit with Dr. Andrews, “pitchers do not visit Dr. Andrews to discuss inflammation.”
Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic told Tolbert & Lund Wednesday that though Cueto has been pitching well, the elbow pain he is experiencing is a major cause for concern and could cause him to miss a significant amount of time.
“He’s getting multiple opinions, and if he’s getting multiple opinions, that tells you the first one is not good,” Baggarly said of Cueto. “Joe Panik went for a second opinion and had surgery. I mean, he’s going to see Dr. Andrews because they’re close to Pensacola, they’ll be in Atlanta, and then we’ll find out. I think we’re going to know basically tomorrow or certainly by Friday just what’s going to happen here, because if he’s just grinding and he’s got inflammation and the ligament is not all the way torn or whatever, I mean he had a zero something ERA and was about the best pitcher in the National League, and you know he can find a way to compete, but they also have him signed for quite a few more years after this year. It’s a hard thing. If they can just get through a little bit longer and wait until they get (Madison) Bumgarner back so it doesn’t seem so dire, but you’ve got to do right by him too.”
Baggarly added that the Giants’ lack of transparency regarding Cueto’s injury could be very telling with regard to the severity of the injury.
“We don’t know,” said Baggs of Cueto’s diagnosis. “This is what’s weird about this is normally Bruce Bochy or Bobby Evans, they’ll give us some idea about what the spectrum is, from season-ending surgery to he’ll miss one start…and they’re basically not telling us anything, but the fact that he’s getting multiple opinions tells you that this could be something that keeps him out for a very long time.”
Dr. Andrews is a renowned orthopedic surgeon who has performed operations on several well-known athletes. Cueto’s visit intentionally coincides with the Giants’ trip to Atlanta to play the Braves Friday-Sunday, as Dr. Andrews has offices in Birmingham, Ala. and Pensacola, Fla.