Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto left Saturday’s National League Central road clash with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifth inning with an apparent right triceps injury.
Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the news.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s John Fay provided the specifics behind Cueto‘s exit.
To that point, Cueto had yielded just two hits and one earned run and struck out three batters to keep the Reds knotted at 1-1 at PNC Park.
Cueto entered the contest with a 1-0 record and a 2.77 ERA in the young 2013 season, and Cincinnati will certainly hope that its star hurler won’t be out of the rotation for too long.
The 27-year-old is coming off a career season, when he went 19-9 with a stellar 2.78 ERA, and he is flashing similarly solid form thus far.
The Reds currently sport a 5-5 record and will be holding their collective breath over this latest potential setback suffered by Cueto. He has a history of injuries, including a notable biceps injury that caused him to miss 33 games in 2011.
A mildly strained oblique suffered after just eight pitches into last year’s postseason was part of what stymied the team’s bid to make a deep playoff run. Cueto couldn’t start Game 4, which the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants won 8-3. They proceeded to close out the Central Division champion Reds in five games.
Cueto‘s evaluation on Sunday will be critical in shaping how the Reds’ season will go for the foreseeable future.
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