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It appears that Johnny Cueto is in trouble once again, and the Cincinnati Reds will have to deal with their top starting pitcher potentially being out due to injury.

UPDATE: Saturday, June 29, at 5:24 p.m. ET by Kyle Vassalo

John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer provides the update Reds fans have been dreading:

—End of Update—

UPDATE: Friday, June 28, at 9:38 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford

The Reds announced Cueto’s specific injury via Twitter:

—End of update—

*Original Text*

According to Mark Sheldon, the Reds beat reporter for MLB.com, Cueto was injured for the third time this year after only one inning of work against the Texas Rangers on Friday.

Cueto has had a tough season battling injuries.  He has on the disabled list from April 15 to May 19 with a strained muscle in his right shoulder to start the season.  He came back to pitch a couple of outings but was then put back on the DL on June 6.

In his nine games he’s started for the Reds, Cueto has gone 4-1 with a 3.33 ERA and a WHIP of only 1.07.  However, in his two games back from the most recent DL, he went 1-1 with a 6.97 ERA.

The Reds certainly needed all of the help they could get at this point, and losing Cueto once again won’t help.  Despite a solid 45-34 record before this most recent injury to Cueto, they are still only third in the NL Central.

The pitching staff has been doing solid without Cueto, however, boasting a team ERA of only 3.52, the fourth-best mark in the National League.  Their opposing batting average of .241 is also second best in the NL, next to the Pittsburgh Pirates at .226.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the Reds later on in the season, but there’s one thing that’s certain: Yet another injury to Cueto is bad news for the Reds.

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Cincinnati Reds fans are reacting differently to Johnny Cueto‘s injury.  His absence makes most fans anxious, as they should be, while others are excited at the prospect of another starter getting a chance.  

Cueto, the club’s ace, is expected to miss between two to four starts (Hamilton JournalNews).  For me, the biggest concern isn’t his absence, but what the injury means.  The Dominican starter has seemed injury-prone over the years, the pinnacle being his injury in the first game of the playoffs against the San Francisco Giants.  Is it possible that the story of this injury will resemble Nick Masset’s, which—originally diagnosed as shoulder soreness—evolved into season-ending surgery from which we have yet to see him return?  But I digress.

The story tantalizing fans is that of Tony Cingrani, a third-round pick out of Rice.  Converted from closer to starter, Cingrani has been nothing short of brilliant in his performances in the minor leagues.  Last season, the southpaw posted a 1.73 ERA in Double-A Pensacola with over 10 SO/9.  This season in Triple-A Louisville, he’s picked up right where he left off with a 1.80 ERA and over 16 SO/9 in his three starts.  He’s dominating the minor league batters who are hitting a paltry .067 against him. 

Based on those numbers, Cingrani looks a lot like Aroldis Chapman—a high-strikeouts, hard-to-hit lefty.  The comparisons don’t stop there though.  Just like the Cuban Missile, Cingrani‘s best pitch is his fastball, which averages around 92 mph.  Cingrani, based solely on his minors numbers, looks entirely ready to step up and start—whether it be as a stand-in for Johnny Cueto or as a replacement for the lackluster Mike Leake.

But wait, there is in fact more.  For those clambering for Cingrani to eventually replace Mike Leake, one detail is always forgotten: the reason Cingrani is still in the minors.  You see, despite his impressive numbers, the closer-turned-starter—much like Aroldis Chapman—is highly limited by his lack of pitches.  He throws his fastball and an average changeup along with a below-average slider and a new 11-5 curveball.  He lacks a second pitch, and it shows in the metrics.  Last season, over 85 percent of the lefty’s pitches were fastballs, and this season, that number is over 90 percent.  His 85 percent statistic is higher than any pitcher in the majors—the leaders threw their fastballs 80 percent of the time.  

And the rest of the league?  Fangraphs reports that only 15 starters threw fastballs over 65 percent of the time.  The Reds camp has repeatedly said that Cingrani is to remain in Louisville until he can effectively throw another pitch.  That hasn’t happened yet.

Throwing that many fastballs is just asking to be lit up in the major leagues, which is definitely not the place to develop a breaking ball.  The reality is that, despite his truly awe-inspiring numbers, this kid is just not ready to pitch in a starting rotation.  Might he get called up to replace Cueto?  I would be stunned if he wasn’t with all the hype surrounding him.  Should he stay up after Cueto‘s return?  That will largely depend on his numbers, but if the organization is really intent on him finding a third pitch, they’ll make the smart move and send him down, or make the even smarter move of letting Sam LeCure replace Cueto for a few starts. 

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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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Johnny Cueto is the ace of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff.

This season, that role will come with a lot of notoriety as the Reds currently have the sixth best odds to win the World Series in 2013 (per Betvega.com).

Last year, through one of the most successful regular season campaigns in franchise history, Cueto was able to dominate in impressive fashion.

Cueto was one of the best starting pitchers in baseball last year and finished in the top five in starts, ERA, wins, ERA+ and pitching WAR (per Baseball-Reference.com).

All of that 2012 success led to a fourth place finish in Cy Young Award voting.

Cueto is looking to build upon that success in 2013, and the Reds could certainly use a solid season from their ace.

Cueto was dominant in yesterday’s season opener against the Angels.

Over seven innings, Cueto allowed one run on three hits (one HR) and a walk while striking out nine (per ESPN.com).

Unfortunately, Cueto was dealt a no-decision as the offense floundered against Jered Weaver.

Cueto passed the eye-test with flying colors and held the Angels’ big four (Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton, Albert Pujols and Mark Trumbo) to a 2-11 showing with one walk (per ESPN.com).

Cueto had all of his pitches working to both sides of the plate, and if yesterday’s performance was any indication, it appears that he may be in for a monster 2013 season.

In addition to a positive start to the season, Cueto has also added a cutter to his arsenal (per Daytondailynews.com).

The 27-year-old will use that cutter to work along with a low 90s fastball, a slider, a heavy two-seam fastball and a biting changeup (per Fangraphs.com). 

Keeping batters off balance is essential to Cueto’s game.

Cueto isn’t going to overpower anyone with his fastball, but his deceptive pitching motion combined with the addition of a new pitch and improved control over his other pitches should help keep his H/9 and HR/9 numbers low.

Cueto should also be able to gather up a significant amount of wins in 2013.

Including yesterday’s start, Cueto has registered 42 quality starts in 58 attempts. That equates to a QS% of 72. That figure is significantly higher than the MLB average of 51 percent over the course of his career.

That 72 percent mark also puts him in elite company along with pitchers like Justin Verlander (78 percent), Matt Cain (73 percent), Cole Hamels (75 percent) and Clayton Kershaw (76 percent).

With an improved offense supporting him, quality starts will continue to turn into wins.

Cueto’s name has yet to become synonymous with dominance ,but 2013 will go a long way toward further solidifying his growing reputation as an ace in this league.

All Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted

Follow @TylerDuma

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The Cincinnati Reds are heading into the winter meetings, coming off a disappointing finish to an otherwise great season by all other accounts.

The team’s pitchers turned in one of the best performances of any MLB pitching staff in 2012, and the bullpen in particular was a key component in the Reds’ success last season.

Mat Latos proved to be worth every bit of the package the Reds sent to San Diego, and Johnny Cueto turned in a season worthy of Cy Young consideration.

In addition to the success of several starters and the overall good play of the bullpen, the emergence of Aroldis Chapman proved to be the most exciting part of the Reds 2012 season. Though the team is looking to make him a starter for 2013,  

The offense sputtered, at times. but there were bright spots in the offensive production put forth by the team. Todd Frazier came through with a breakout season, Ryan Ludwick bounced back this year and Brandon Phillips continued on with being one of the most consistent second basemen in baseball.

With a healthy Joey Votto, a presumed increase in the depth of the pitching staff and defined lineup spot and position for Todd Frazier, the Reds look to be a team to beat in 2013.

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Early Tuesday, Johnny Cueto was diagnosed with a mild oblique strain. This isn’t good news for Reds fans who hoped to see him back as soon as Game 4 of the NLDS (if needed).

If the injury is as severe as reported, then Cueto will not be back for Game 4, and should the Reds advance, he may not be back for a while.

Reds beat writer John Fay tweeted earlier that the injury was in fact an oblique strain and that a trip to the disabled list could be in Cueto’s near future.

Should Cueto be sent to the DL, he would not be eligible for the NLCS and the Reds would need to replace him in the rotation. The most likely candidate to replace Cueto is Mike Leake, who has struggled mightily in his third big-league season.

In 30 starts, Leake has pitched 179 innings with an 8-9 record, 4.58 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 116 strikeouts compared to 41 walks.

Peripheral stats for Leake include a 2.8 K/BB ratio, 5.8 K/9 and 10.1 H/9. Leake allowed batters to hit .287/.326/.479 with 26 home runs, 46 doubles and five triples.

If that isn’t enough bad news for the Reds, it was reported Tuesday that Mat Latos is battling the flu.

Originally, Fay tweeted that Latos had said he’d be ready for Game 4 of the NLDS, if the team needed him. But if Latos is truly battling the flu, it’s highly unlikely that he would pitch in Game 4.

That means that since the Reds lost Tuesday night, they may have to turn to Leake as soon as Wednesday evening. If the Reds had been able to win Game 3, they would’ve have the added advantage of extra time to see whether or not Cueto will be available for the next round of the playoffs.

Tuesday night’s game carries major implications for the remainder of the Reds’ postseason, and without a healthy Cueto, Cincinnati’s postseason run could be in serious jeopardy.

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The Cincinnati Reds are heading into the 2012 Major League Baseball playoffs as National League Central champions and Johnny Cueto is poised to take the next step on his way to becoming the league’s best pitcher. 

The 26-year-old is having the best season of his career, but he is still being overlooked by the national media. He put himself in the Cy Young race for most of the season until a couple shaky starts in September diminished his chances.

With his team in the playoffs for the second time in three seasons, the 19-game winner will be expected to carry his teammates deep into October. In 2010, the Reds were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds are in better position to make a run this season.

Cueto gives the team what they lacked in 2010: a legitimate No. 1 starter. Mat Latos has also performed well behind Cueto, but the pressure will be on Cueto to lead the way.

Now that the team is older, Cincinnati has the experience to make it out of the National League Division Series. 

A strong postseason by Cueto will put him in the driver’s seat for the 2013 National League Cy Young race, so he will continue to come through for the team. Postseason baseball features baseball’s best players and Cueto will shine in the national spotlight.

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It’s not often that the debate between the top two Cy Young candidates for a specific league becomes a debate over two teammates. But, that is exactly what is going on in the National League and in Cincinnati in 2012.

What makes this even more rare is the fact that it is going on in Cincinnati.The Reds have won their fair share of league MVP awards (12), Rookie of the Year awards (seven), and countless Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.

But, they have never won a Cy Young award. Simply put, it is a statistical anomaly that the Reds legitimately have the top two candidates to take home this season’s award.

Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman are without argument the front runners to take home the N.L. Cy Young award this season—no questions.

The real question remains though, which of them will actually win it?

You can make a great case for both of them, and personally I find it very difficult to choose. Let’s take a look at what makes them the top two candidates.

Johnny Cueto has developed into the ace and anchor of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff. Many so-called experts called Cueto’s stats of a year ago a fluke. Cueto has stepped up this season and continued right where he left off and said “fluke this.”

Cueto owns a 15-6 record with a 2.45 ERA, leading the league in wins and coming in at a close second in ERA. What about the infamous WAR category? Johnny is one of only two pitchers with a WAR above four. Jordan Zimmerman owns a 4.4 WAR while Cueto is weighing in at a whopping 5.4—one full win (23 percent) more than Zimmerman’s second place ranking.

For those who are not familiar with WAR, in simple terms, it is a measurement of how valuable you are to your team based on how others perform at your position throughout the league during the same season. It isn’t the “be-all, end-all” stat that many make it out to be, but it is a very reliable measurement when evaluated in context with other performance stats.

That being said, many have been clamoring for knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to take home the award and I say nah-baby-nah.

Dickey has had a great season, but great does not equate to the best season. His peripheral stats look very good—15 wins and a 2.89 ERA—but his true value to his team has been nominal compared to the likes of Cueto. Dickey owns a pitching WAR of only 3.6. Cueto’s rating is an astronomical 50 percent greater than Dickey’s. 

Let’s switch over to Aroldis Chapman for a bit. Read this next potion very closely. Chapman owns a 3.1 WAR, ranking ninth in the league in this category.

Hold on, let’s say that again in a different context.

A relief pitcher has accumulated a WAR larger than the likes of Stephen Strasburg, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Gio Gonzalez, Zack Greinke, Cliff Lee and a list of other staff aces.

This is one stat fact that I cannot even find words to describe how astonishing it is. Most impressive is not the names I just listed but, that he has done it in only a third (58 IP) of the innings pitched.

Chapman would project to have a WAR of nearly 10 in a comparable amount of innings—that’s 85 percent greater than Cueto’s current number.

I am not normally a supporter of relief pitchers winning the Cy Young award. But every once in a while a player makes himself so valuable to his team that you must to look closer at it. The argument can be made that Chapman is the most important pitcher to his team. If you have not yet read Jason Stark’s recent article about why Chapman is the N.L. Cy Young, then you need to. He points out some even more eye-popping facts.

The debate will continue for the rest of the season. But one thing is for sure, the N.L. Cy Young hardware belongs and will end up in Cincinnati at the conclusion of the 2012 season.

Johnny Cueto for N.L Cy Young—Aroldis Chapman for N.L. Cy Young—who would you choose?

You can follow Joshua Ramsey on Twitter @JRamCincy.

Check out more B/R articles by Josh here.

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Cincinnati Reds fans are witnessing the greatness of Johnny Cueto for a second consecutive year.  The Dominican starter has firmly entrenched himself as the Reds’ No. 1 starter, their true ace.  Cueto‘s numbers have been dazzling, and this season he’s getting what he desperately needs for the Cy Young race: wins.

With a 14-5 record, Cueto shares the title of MLB‘s most wins along with highly praised names like David Price, Jered Weaver and R.A. Dickey.  Fourteen wins marks a career best for the Cincinnati ace, and given the hot streak from the Reds’ batters, that number should only climb.

Last season, Johnny Cueto was just as impressive as he is this year.  He had a WHIP of 1.09.  He held batters to .214 hitting.  He made over half of the balls hit against him grounders, crucial in Great American Ballpark where the home run rate is 1.644/game, the second highest in the major leagues.  All these numbers, even his 2011 2.31 ERA, were better than his current numbers.  His problem last year, though, was one of innings pitched, missing qualification for the ERA title by just six innings, and garnering little attention with his nine wins.

This year’s the new story, the story of a healthier Johnny Cueto.  Although not quite as good as last year, his 1.21 WHIP is up there with well-established names like C.J. Wilson and CC Sabathia.  Although batters hit .254 against him, he strands over 80 percent of those on base, rated seventh best in the majors.  Pitching in Cincinnati, he’s given up just seven home runs, fourth best in the majors with the second-lowest HR/nine.

Why is there no buzz about this guy?

The answer is depressingly obvious.  Cueto doesn’t fit the mold of a modern ace.  Unlike his peers, his strikeout rate is pretty plain at 7.06 K/nine.  Unlike his peers, he doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, his fastball averages around 92 mph.  He’s not the anomaly of a pitcher that R.A. Dickey is.  His name isn’t on the trade block like Zack Greinke.  He’s not getting All-Star appearances, he’s playing for a small-market team, and he’s a relatively fresh face.

If the season ended right now and Johnny Cueto didn’t win the NL Cy Young Award, MLB would have to answer some tough questions.  Cueto holds baseball’s ninth-best WAR and sits behind only the reigning AL MVP Justin Verlander when you shorten the list to just pitchers.  He’s the clear ace of baseball’s best and hottest team.  He’s tied for fifth in number of quality starts, ahead of such NL fan favorites as Stephen Strasburg and Clayton Kershaw.  He has the fourth-best ERA in the NL.

Three of his five losses are tough losses.  None of his wins were cheap wins.

I can throw incredible stats about the guy at you all day.  With him on the mound, 89 percent of baserunners are caught stealing.  He hasn’t thrown a wild pitch this year.  Only three qualified pitchers have fewer earned runs than him.

Where is the talk about a pitcher finding himself among the league’s best in almost every category?

If Cueto continues his dominance—and there’s no reason he shouldn’t; his ERA going back to the start of 2011 is second only to Jered Weaver’s—and tops 20 wins this season, don’t just pray that he wins the Cy Young Award, expect it.  

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An all-star manager’s role can be described in two different ways:

1) It is the easiest job in the world—it’s impossible to make a mistake with such a surplus of talent. You can literally throw any player anywhere and things will work out.

OR

2) It is the hardest job in the world—it’s impossible to squeeze so much talent into nine different spots in nine innings. While managers may want to implement a certain strategy with their starters (almost always the best players, except at third base for the NL this year), they also have to ensure that every all-star receives an ample amount of playing time.

NL manager Tony La Russa was picked apart by MLB analysts before we were even able to witness John Kruk stuffing his face with Kansas City BBQ. 

Were Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips intentionally snubbed? Was R.A. Dickey the deserving starter over Matt Cain? Should a retired manager even be allowed to participate in this event?

Tony La Russa has been scrutinized in every way possible, and although I agree he shouldn’t be managing this game (if home-field advantage in the World Series is involved, then active managers should be the ones fighting for the win), future all-star managers have a ton to learn from La Russa’s strategy.

La Russa has ignored the traditional “all-star approach.” He isn’t going to sit back and let players’ statistics mandate when/where they will play. No. Instead he is putting his very own spin on the game, managing in the same manner that won him three World Series titles and the third most games in MLB history.

Just because R.A. Dickey has the most wins in the MLB doesn’t mean he is the best option to start the game. 

[If you really want to argue stats, Cain has the same number of shutouts, is .22 higher in ERA, .03 higher in WHIP, thrown five fewer strikeouts, .1 less innings, and the three less wins? Dickey ranks 14th in run support (6.83 runs/game) while Cain ranks 45th (5.46)]

Did you ever care to think about how the move might play out? If Dickey throws first, the AL will see fastball pitchers for seven straight innings. But with the knuckleballer sandwiched in between two normal pitchers, it’s that much more of an adjustment AL hitters will have to make midway through the game.

Look at the Cueto/Phillips “snubbing” as well. Believe it or not, there is reasoning other than “he’s holding a grudge.”

La Russa loves his lefty/lefty, righty/righty pitching match-ups, and he let that influence his nine final picks. Every starting pitcher he chose was a lefty. Before his final decision, the NL’s bullpen had five lefties in comparison to eight righties. It’s not a coincidence that he chose to balance that out.

With Phillips, it was simply a matter of versatility in the field. Ian Desmond is quicker than Phillips and can play all over the infield. Desmond allows more flexibility late in games. Plus, with each player coming off the bench, Desmond is more of a threat to pinch-run and steal bases.

As a fan, you have every right to question a manager’s moves, especially when it’s a manager of another team. But how can you not love La Russa’s motives? He is transcending the game to a whole new level. It’s what Commissioner Selig has always wanted. It’s how we bring back the passion of Pete Rose plowing over a catcher in the Midsummer Classic.

Why shouldn’t a manager pick players he favors with his final nine picks? Isn’t that why he has that right in the first place? If I’m in that situation and winning is my primary concern, I’m selecting the guys who are going to bust their butts. I’m picking guys like Bryce Harper who run the bases on every pop out. And at the same time, I’m noting the difference between pitchers with great mound presence and those who show a poor demeanor. It’s my choice, and I’m going to weigh those options on my scale, not anyone else’s.

La Russa understands he is managing a baseball game with a lot on the line. Without an NL victory in 2011, his team may have never won the World Series last season. He’s not going to treat this like the celebrity softball event, and sometimes that means angering a fan or two.

He’s going out there to win, and if that means acting differently than the managers before him, so be it. 

He’s going out there to win, whether you like it or not.

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