The San Francisco Giants are expected to be without Johnny Cueto for a significant period of time, but the injury news the starting pitcher received over the weekend could have been much worse.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that Cueto was diagnosed with a strained elbow by Dr. James Andrews, and he will not require surgery. He will, however, have to rest the injury and miss six weeks.
a relief for giants. sources: Johnny Cueto determined to have a sprained elbow, not a tear. Dr. Andrews recommends rest. out 6 weeks. #SFGiants
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 7, 2018
Cueto sought out several opinions on his sore pitching elbow, and there was some concern that he may have to undergo surgery and be out for the season. While an injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is never something to overlook, Cueto appears to have dodged a bullet.
In five starts this season, Cueto is 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA. He’s obviously extremely valuable to the Giants’ rotation, but it’s better for him to be out now than later in the season. While the Giants have already been short-handed with their pitching staff this year, help should be on the way soon.
