1986
Born February 15, 1986
San Pedro de Macoris, San Pedro de Macorís, D.R.
Johnny Cueto Marquee
b. February 15, 1986 · Cincinnati Reds 2008–2015, Kansas City Royals 2015, San Francisco Giants 2016–2021, Chicago White Sox 2022, Miami Marlins 2023, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2024
In 2014 he went 20-9 with a 2.25 earned run average and 242 strikeouts, the most in the National League, and finished second in the Cy Young voting. The following August Kansas City traded for him, and in October he threw a two-hit complete game to win the second game of the World Series, which the Royals took in five.
Seventeen seasons gave him 144 wins against 113, a 3.52 earned run average, 2,256 innings and 1,857 strikeouts, with two All-Star selections. He was Dominican and signed for thirty-five thousand dollars.
He pitched with a shifting delivery — a full turn of the back to the hitter, a shimmy, a quick pitch — which he varied inside at bats and which hitters complained about for a decade. San Francisco had six of his seasons after Kansas City. He is not yet on a Hall of Fame ballot.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 2014, 2016 |
| Player of the Week | 3 | 2014, 2016, 2022 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | CIN | 32 | 45 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 0 | .044 |
| 2009 | CIN | 30 | 46 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 0 | .130 |
| 2010 | CIN | 31 | 54 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 0 | .111 |
| 2011 | CIN | 24 | 47 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .064 |
| 2012 | CIN | 33 | 67 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | .090 |
| 2013 | CIN | 11 | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .150 |
| 2014 | CIN | 34 | 68 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 0 | .132 |
| 2015 | CIN/KCR | 32 | 37 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .162 |
| 2016 | SFG | 32 | 70 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 24 | 0 | .114 |
| 2017 | SFG | 25 | 46 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 0 | .087 |
| 2018 | SFG | 9 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 2019 | SFG | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| 2020 | SFG | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2021 | SFG | 22 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | .069 |
| 2022 | CHW | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2023 | MIA | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | LAA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 371 | 545 | 27 | 55 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 178 | 1 | .101 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | CIN | 9 | 14 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 174.0 | 178 | 93 | 68 | 158 | 4.81 |
| 2009 | CIN | 11 | 11 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 171.1 | 172 | 84 | 61 | 132 | 4.41 |
| 2010 | CIN | 12 | 7 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 185.2 | 181 | 75 | 56 | 138 | 3.64 |
| 2011 | CIN | 9 | 5 | 24 | 24 | 0 | 156.0 | 123 | 40 | 47 | 104 | 2.31 |
| 2012 | CIN | 19 | 9 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 217.0 | 205 | 67 | 49 | 170 | 2.78 |
| 2013 | CIN | 5 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 60.2 | 46 | 19 | 18 | 51 | 2.82 |
| 2014 | CIN | 20 | 9 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 243.2 | 169 | 61 | 65 | 242 | 2.25 |
| 2015 | CIN/KCR | 11 | 13 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 212.0 | 194 | 81 | 46 | 176 | 3.44 |
| 2016 | SFG | 18 | 5 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 219.2 | 195 | 68 | 45 | 198 | 2.79 |
| 2017 | SFG | 8 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 147.1 | 160 | 74 | 53 | 136 | 4.52 |
| 2018 | SFG | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 53.0 | 46 | 19 | 13 | 38 | 3.23 |
| 2019 | SFG | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16.0 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 13 | 5.06 |
| 2020 | SFG | 2 | 3 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 63.1 | 61 | 38 | 26 | 56 | 5.40 |
| 2021 | SFG | 7 | 7 | 22 | 21 | 0 | 114.2 | 127 | 52 | 30 | 98 | 4.08 |
| 2022 | CHW | 8 | 10 | 25 | 24 | 0 | 158.1 | 161 | 59 | 33 | 102 | 3.35 |
| 2023 | MIA | 1 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 52.1 | 51 | 35 | 15 | 39 | 6.02 |
| 2024 | LAA | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11.1 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 7.15 |
| Career | — | 144 | 113 | 370 | 365 | 0 | 2256.1 | 2094 | 883 | 637 | 1857 | 3.52 |
On this day & linked events
2008
Major-league debut: Johnny Cueto
Johnny Cueto made a major-league debut on April 3, 2008.
Image: Public domain