Better late than never, as the saying goes. And certainly, this is doubly true when “late” is somehow the same thing as “right on time.”
Just ask Johnny Cueto.
When the Kansas City Royals acquired Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds in a late-July trade, the idea was for him to be the ace the club badly needed. It didn’t take long for that wish to go “pluh.” Through his first 14 starts in a Royals uniform, Cueto was a bitter disappointment.
But at long last, he finally set things right in start No. 15. And not a moment too soon.
Cueto got the ball in Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night, with his task being to pitch the Royals to their second straight AL Championship Series. He did exactly that, leading the Royals to a series-clinching 7-2 victory with eight innings of two-run ball.
Cueto definitely had help in Game 5. After the Royals had fallen behind, 2-0, in the second inning on Luis Valbuena’s two-run homer, Alex Rios put the Royals ahead for good with a two-run double in the fifth inning. And in the eighth inning, Kendrys Morales provided the dagger with a three-run homer.
But really, this game was all about Johnny Cueto pitching like, well, Johnny Cueto.
After posting a 4.76 ERA in 13 regular-season starts as a Royal and then getting knocked around by the Astros in Game 2 of the ALDS, it seemed for a moment that Cueto was in for another rough one when he gave up a single and a homer in the second inning. But as it turned out, those would be the only two baserunners he allowed. There were no more hits and no walks, and Cueto struck out eight.
“That’s the reason why we got him,” said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, “for games like this.”
All told, the 29-year-old right-hander retired 24 of the 26 batters he faced, including each of the last 19. As MLB Stat of the Day noted, it had been quite a while since a pitcher had done that in the postseason:
For a starting pitcher going to work in the postseason, there’s surely nothing like making a bit of history.
Except, maybe, for finding a bit of redemption.
Remember when the Royals traded for Cueto?
Of course you do. It was a big deal. Along with David Price and Cole Hamels, Cueto was one of the top starting pitchers available on the summer trade market. And when the Royals pulled off a deal to get him, it required them to send a decent handful of young players to Cincinnati. It was a win-now move that came at a high price.
But at the time, it was easy to predict that Cueto would be worth it.
All he had done in the last four-and-a-half seasons was establish himself as one of baseball’s elite pitchers, carving out a 2.51 ERA over 808 innings. With the Royals already leading the AL Central at the time, even despite lacking a true ace, we here at B/R were among many who immediately pegged the Royals as the favorites to represent the American League in the World Series now that they had one.
But then, of course, came the darn-near-5.00 ERA down the stretch in the regular season, followed by Cueto’s decidedly “meh” performance (six innings, four earned runs) in his first postseason start.
What happened?
What, indeed. Up until, as Brooks Baseball shows, his velocity took a dive at the very end of the season, Cueto’s stuff seemed fine. And because he actually posted a lower walk rate in Kansas City (4.9 BB%) than he did in Cincinnati (5.6 BB%), his control also seemed fine.
As such, maybe Cueto was being plagued by the little things. As Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star noted, Cueto himself has admitted that his upcoming free agency has been on his mind. And as the Star’s Andy McCullough reported in September, Cueto may have also been thrown off by Salvador Perez’s method of setting targets.
But really, nobody seemed to know what was dogging Cueto. Without an obvious explanation, the only thing that was clear was that he didn’t look like himself.
And that, naturally, is what changed in Game 5.
It was apparent early in Wednesday’s action that Cueto had brought some nasty stuff to play with. After sitting below 93 miles per hour in his previous three outings, Brooks Baseball indicates that Cueto came out throwing over 94 early on in Game 5. That’s where he stayed, as he was still throwing in the mid-90s deep into the game.
But just as important as Cueto’s stuff was what he was doing with it. With the obvious exception being Valbuena’s home run ball, Royals skipper Ned Yost hit the nail on the head in noting after the game, via MLB Network Radio, that Cueto basically didn’t throw a bad pitch:
This admittedly presents a hard picture to paint with data, but not so much with the eye test.
Cueto has always been at his best when he’s mixing and matching his complete arsenal of pitches—four-seamer, two-seamer, cutter and changeup—and playing with the edges of the strike zone. Never mind on an inning-to-inning basis. For the first time in a long time, that’s what he was doing on a pitch-to-pitch basis against the Astros.
Understandably, Houston hitters were baffled. In collecting 10 swinging strikes, per ESPN.com, Cueto enjoyed double-digit whiffs for the first time since Sept. 18. And though he also induced 12 fly balls to just four ground balls, the only fly ball that was hit hard was Valbuena’s home run.
In the end, Cueto made it look easy for what was really the first time in his career as a Royal. At long last, Kansas City fans were treated to an up-close look at one of the most dominant pitchers of recent seasons.
And as enjoyable as it all was in the moment, it should be far from the consensus that Cueto’s gem was a parting gift.
Up next for the Royals is a dance with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series. Their power bats made mincemeat of the Texas Rangers in the final three games of the ALDS, and could very well do the same against the Royals if their pitching staff doesn’t band together and put forth a performance of a lifetime.
Cueto will need to be a part of that. But whereas noting as much might have come off as an ominous warning for the Kansas City faithful as recently as Wednesday afternoon, now it suddenly sounds like an ominous warning for the opposition.
Cueto is no longer that guy who used to be an ace pitcher. After what he just did, he once again looks like that guy who is an ace pitcher.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.
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