Johnny Cueto

Infobox MLB player
name = Johnny Cueto

---

width = 300
caption =
team = Cincinnati Reds
number = 47
position = Starting pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1986|2|15
birthplace = San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = April 3
debutyear = 2008
debutteam = Cincinnati Reds
statyear = August 20, 2008
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 8-12
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 4.74
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 142
teams =
* Cincinnati Reds (by|2008-present)

Johnny Cueto [KWAY-toe] (born February 15, 1986 in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic) is a right-handed Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.

Minor league career

Cueto has been in the Minor Leagues for three seasons, and has excelled at many levels, but really turned heads during the 2007 season. Cueto started his career for the Gulf Coast Reds of the Rookie Gulf Coast League, posting a 5.02 ERA, before being promoted to the High-A Sarasota Reds of the Florida State League, where he finished his 2005 season. Johnny has had progressively better seasons since. In 2006, Cueto was placed in Low A Dayton, blasting out of the gates, and posting a 2.61 ERA, and a 0.88 WHIP. While with Dayton, on May 13, 2006, he threw a rain shortened no-hitter against Wisconsin. [ [http://www.daytondragons.com/pressbox/pressrelease/index.html?article_id=68 Dayton Daily News - No, No, for Cueto!!] ] He was later promoted back to Sarasota, where he finished his season for the second consecutive year. Poised for a breakout 2007, Cueto was placed, once again, in Sarasota. He pitched 14 games in Sarasota, before going on a hot streak, and advancing through three levels in one season. He burnt through AA Chattanooga, and AAA Louisville throughout the rest of his 2007 campaign. [ [http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=18931 Johnny Cueto Statistics (Minor Leagues) - Baseball-Reference.com ] ] He was named the Reds' Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive season. [ [http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=456501 The Official Site of The Cincinnati Reds: Team: Player Information : Biography and Career Highlights ] ]

Major league career

Rookie season (2008)

Cueto made his Major League debut on April 3, 2008 for the Reds at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he carried a perfect game through five innings before surrendering a home run to Justin Upton in the top of the sixth inning. The home run was the only baserunner he allowed, striking out 10 in 7 innings. Cueto was credited with the win in his debut, as the Reds hung on to win 3-2. Johnny is the first Red since 1900 to throw ten strikeouts in his Major League debut. He was also the first MLB pitcher to have 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in his debut. He was the third in MLB history to have 10 strikeouts and give up only 1 hit.cite web|url=http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/redsinsider/2008/04/no-lineups-yet.asp|title= Lineup v. Phillies|last=Fay|first=John|date=2008-04-04|accessdate=2008-05-21] For the game, Cueto's ERA was 1.29 on 92 pitches. Despite his impressive debut, Cueto has been inconsistent for the most part on the season. As of July 29, he is 7-10 with an ERA of 5.02.

Background and influences

Cueto's road to the majors has been a trying one because many teams were wary of his small stature. "Some told me I was too short, others thought I was in fact older than the age that appeared in my papers," said the right-handed fireballer. He is listed at 5-10 but some believe he is closer to 5-8. However, rather than give into the criticism, Cueto looked to another undersized Dominican pitcher, Pedro Martínez, for inspiration. "Pedro has been my inspiration, the person for whom I decided to stop playing outfield to become a pitcher," Cueto said. "One of my biggest dreams is to be able to meet Pedro in person, shake his hand and tell him that he has been my hero and my role model." [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/notebook?page=bbtn&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos2]

References

External links

* [http://www.scoutingbook.com/players/p2100 The Book on Johnny Cueto from ScoutingBook.com ]
* [http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/news/top50/y2008/profile.jsp?t=p_top&pid=456501 Player Profile from MILB.com]