Johnny Cueto is Impressive, But Don’t Annoit Him Yet
I’ll give you this — Johnny Cueto’s debut for the Reds on Thursday was very, very impressive. He had a perfect game going into the sixth inning. The only hit he gave up was a solo homer. He struck out ten and walked none in seven innings. In his Major League debut. Wow.
However, it isn’t necessarily a sign of things to come. Cueto is a great prospect, and absolutely annihilated the minors over the last two years, but caution would be wise.
Look at some other pitchers who had similar starts to their major-league careers. Juan Marichal is an encouraging comparison, but Steve Woodard, Carlos Hernandez and Mo Sanford are less than immortal pitchers.
Sanford is an interesting case, because he also had his debut as a Cincinnati Red. On August 9, 1991, Sanford threw seven innings, giving up two hits and a walk, with eight strikeouts. Sanford went on to make only ten more starts in his Major League career.
Now, I’m not trying to make a case that Johnny Cueto is a bust — far from it. I think Cueto is an excellent prospect, and could be a great pitcher.
My point is a part of my ongoing war on small sample size analysis — don’t be so fast to make judgments based on one start.