Johnny Cueto Ortiz (; born February 15, 1986) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox.
Cueto made his MLB debut in 2008. By 2011 he emerged as the ace of the Reds pitching staff and one of the top pitchers in the National League. He won 19 games and posted a 2.78 earned run average (ERA) in 2012, finishing fourth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award and helping lead the Reds to the NL Central title. In 2014, he won 20 games with a 2.25 ERA and tied for the NL lead in strikeouts with 242, finishing as the runner-up for the Cy Young Award.
In 2016, Cueto won 18 games with the Giants while posting a 2.79 ERA, helping lead them to the postseason, where they lost in the NLDS, and he achieved another top-10 finish in the Cy Young voting. He was an MLB All-Star in 2014 and 2016, and was chosen as the starting pitcher for the 2016 MLB All-Star Game. From 2011 to 2017, Cueto accumulated the second-lowest ERA of all pitchers with at least 750 innings pitched (behind Clayton Kershaw), managing a 2.94 ERA alongside a 90–51 (.638) record in innings. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018.
Early life
Cueto was born on February 15, 1986, in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic.
Professional career
Minor leagues
Cueto signed with the Reds in 2004 as an undrafted amateur free agent for a $35,000 signing bonus. He was in the minor leagues for three seasons, and excelled at many levels, but really turned heads during the 2007 season.
Cueto started his career for the Gulf Coast Reds of the Rookie Gulf Coast League, posting a 5.02 earned run average (ERA), before being promoted to the High-A Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League, where he finished his 2005 season. He has had progressively better seasons since.
In 2006, Cueto was assigned to the Low A Dayton Dragons, and posted a 2.61 ERA, and a 0.88 walks plus hits per inning pitched (WHIP) ratio. While with Dayton, on May 13, 2006, he threw a rain-shortened no-hitter against Wisconsin. He was later promoted back to Sarasota, where he finished his season for the second consecutive year.
In 2007, Cueto was placed once again in Sarasota. He pitched 14 games for the team, before going on a hot streak and advancing through three levels in one season. He played for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts and AAA Louisville Bats throughout the rest of his 2007 campaign. He was named the Reds' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season.
Cincinnati Reds (2008–2015)
2008: Rookie season
Cueto made his MLB debut on April 3, 2008, for the Reds at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he carried a perfect game through five innings before surrendering a home run to Justin Upton in the top of the sixth inning. The home run was the only baserunner he allowed, striking out 10 in seven innings. Cueto was credited with the win in his debut, as the Reds hung on to win 3–2. Cueto was the first Red since 1900 to throw ten strikeouts in his MLB debut. He was also the first MLB pitcher to have 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in his debut. He was the third in MLB history to have 10 strikeouts and give up only 1 hit. For the game, Cueto's ERA was 1.29 on 92 pitches. Despite his impressive debut, Cueto was inconsistent for the most part on the season. In his first two starts of the season, Cueto was 1–0 with a 2.02 ERA in innings with 18 strikeouts, while he went 1–5 in innings with a 6.65 ERA across his next eight. Cueto struck out several batters in his starts, but found himself unable to pitch himself deep into games rather frequently due to high pitch counts and giving up many home runs. At the end of the 2008 campaign, he finished with a 9–14 record with an ERA of 4.81 in 31 starts (14 quality starts). While he pitched only 174 innings, Cueto struck 158 batters (the most of all NL rookies), good for a K/9 ratio of 8.17, the eighth best in the National League.