Rocio Robles
The Chicago White Sox continue to strengthen a team that already appears solid across the board by signing the Dominican Republic’s Johnny Cueto to a Minor League contract heading into this 2022 season.
Johnny Cueto, a 36-year-old veteran pitcher, will begin the season playing in Triple-A and has the option to opt out of his contract if he is not called up to the Major Leagues after a predetermined period of time. With this acquisition, the White Sox cover the recent loss of their star pitcher Lance Lynn, who will be out for about a month due to a knee injury. Their rotation is still solid, though, with names like Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel, Michael Kopech, and Lucas Giolito, who was scheduled as the Opening Day starter.
Johnny Cueto spent the last six years of his career playing with the San Francisco Giants. As his time on the West Coast of the United States progressed, his participation with the team diminished, though, due to multiple injuries that prevented him from performing at his best. He left the team after averaging a 4.18 ERA during his six seasons in San Francisco in a total of 104 games (103 starts) for a total of 614 innings pitched, in addition to a 7-7 record in 2021.
How has Johnny Cueto’s career in the Major Leagues been like?
This will be the fourth team in the career of Dominican Johnny Cueto in the MLB, who has not yet been able to emulate what he did in his time with the Cincinnati Reds from 2008 to 2014, where he managed to win the division title in 2012 and also led the National League in strikeouts with 242 in 2014. This coupled with his 2.25 ERA made him a finalist in the Cy Young voting that year and he was additionally called to the All-Star Game for the first time in that campaign.
Johnny Cueto’s last outstanding season was in 2016 with the Giants, when he was called to the All-Star Game for the second time and finished the campaign with a 2.79 ERA and an 18-5 record that helped the team reach the postseason where it was eliminated in the Divisional Series.
Johnny Cueto will surely have fond memories of this division, as he won the World Series title during his brief stint in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals. However, this moment in his career – in addition to the competition he has in the starting rotation – suggests that the White Sox consider him more of a Plan B than a priority, so his playing time with the team will likely be limited if their primary starters stay healthy.
Be that as it may, the move looks quite positive due to the potential Cueto may have if he stays healthy. Additionally, the White Sox are covering their backs for what will be a long season in which they will try to reach the World Series for the first time since 2005 thanks to the excellent quality and quantity of players on their roster.
