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How good is Johnny Cueto?

Scouts agree, he's the best right-handed person ever.

In fact, baseball insiders believe that Cueto will impact human civilization in much the same way that language, tool use, and agriculture have.

Physicists are analyzing the Pitch f/x data from his first major league start, looking for new quarks.

That's how good he is. There's also been speculation that Microsoft reduced its bid for Yahoo! by as much as $5 billion because Cueto wasn't in the player pool before April.

Seriously, he's that good.

Tonight he gave up two runs, which will never happen again.

Dusty Baker had a chance to pinch-hit for him in the seventh with one out and a runner at second. Cueto had thrown 85 pitches and the Reds were losing to Milwaukee, 1-0. Instead, Cueto remained in the game, advanced the runner with a bouncer to short, and Corey Patterson singled to tie the score.

Then Bill Hall untied it with a solo homer to lead-off the bottom half of the inning. Cueto followed by striking out Corey Hart, but Baker lifted the 22-year-old after 96 pitches.

Cueto finished with another very good fantasy line: 6.1 IP, 8 K, 2.84 ERA, 0.79 WHIP. He's now pitched 13.1 major league innings, allowing six hits, walking no one, and striking out 18.

There is widespread agreement that if we harvest Cueto's stem cells, they will cure death.

* Eric Gagne blew the save for the Brewers in the ninth, allowing a two-strike, two-out home run to Patterson. Gagne threw almost exclusively off-speed stuff. When he tried to get consecutive fastballs by Patterson, the second was launched over the right field fence.

Guillermo Mota entered in the eighth to face the heart of the Reds' order, but he wasn't effective. Salomon Torres ultimately got the win for Milwaukee.

* Jorge Posada will have an MRI on his shoulder on Wednesday. He told reporters that it feels, "Dead. It's like I've got no strength." The DL is a possibility here. You'll need a replacement for a little while. So...

* The largely-unowned Kurt Suzuki is now hitting .414 after going 3/5 in Oakland's 9-8 win over Toronto. Huston Street pitched an uneventful ninth, earning his first save of the season.

* Jimmy Rollins exited late in the Phillies' 5-2 win over the Mets. He sprained his ankle, but it's not thought to be serious. The Phillies' website reports that he expects to start on Wednesday night. Tom Gordon picked up the save because Brad Lidge had pitched the previous two days.

* Brian Bannister picked up his second win of the season today, going five innings against the Yankees, allowing two runs, and striking out six. He's now beaten two of the more impressive lineups in baseball, Detroit and New York, and his upcoming starts should be against Minnesota and Oakland. He's a solid add right now. (More thoughts on Bannister here).

* Royals' leadoff hitter Joey Gathright stole three bases off Posada's dying arm today.

* Tonight's Mariners' save went to left-hander Ryan Rowland-Smith. He retired the top of the Rays' order (lefties Iwamura, Crawford and Pena) in the ninth. Rowland-Smith's stat line was impressive (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K), but the save opportunity seemed to be about match-ups. JJ Putz will reportedly start a throwing program on Wednesday.

* Here's a scary Yahoo! box score note from that Seattle-Tampa game: "TAMPA BAY PITCHER MATT GARZA LEFT THE GAME IN THE TOP OF THE THIRD INNING DUE TO RADIAL NERVE INJURY IN HIS RIGHT ELBOW." He's already on the 15-day DL.

"It's something I've dealt with over time," said Garza.

"It just came up during the game," said Joe Maddon.

* Hard-throwing Ubaldo Jimenez had a sketchy line in a win over the Braves: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. The Rockies' bullpen was lights-out, pitching three no-hit innings.

* Justin Speier was not quite lights-out for the Angels. Francisco Rodriguez is dealing with injured ankles, and Scot Shields had pitched on both Sunday and Monday, so the save opportunity went to Speier. He was one strike away from converting, but he walked Asdrubal Cabrera, then gave up a bomb to Travis Hafner on a first-pitch slider.

Rodriguez is expected to miss several days, with a DL visit possible. Mike Scioscia sounds like he's forming a closer committee: "We've got a couple of arms at the back end of the bullpen to close it out. We'll do it by match-ups." Speier wasn't bad on Tuesday -- ball four to Cabrera was close -- but Shields is the best bet for saves in the short term.

* Matt Kemp, a guy that Craig Falzone would like to trade, was 3/5 on Tuesday with a triple and a run scored. 

* Brian Wilson couldn't hold a 2-1 lead for Tim Lincecum on Tuesday night. Wilson allowed a walk, a single, and a sac-fly. That's two consecutive poor outings for him. Tyler Walker has given up only two earned runs in his last 17.2 innings. Brad Hennessey has struggled mightily this year, but he picked up the win in the 11th when Bengie Molina hit a walk-off (approximately 12 hours after we criticized him).

* Francisco Liriano allowed three runs and five hits in a four-inning Triple-A rehab start on Tuesday. He struck out three and walked three.

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72 Comments

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  1. Sinacola
    1. Posted by Sinacola Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:13 pm EDT

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    andy i just want to let you know that i love reading your columns and appreciate the work you do on here
  2. Wrighteous
    2. Posted by Wrighteous Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:48 pm EDT

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    I wouldn't be surprised to see Andy repeat a championship in the Yahoo! Friends and family league. He is a God among men.
  3. Holt Doggy Dogg
    3. Posted by Holt Doggy Dogg Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:11 pm EDT

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    anyone else see the lowly evans w/ like 43 total points? i love his columns and random references, but sometimes i think his man-crushes alter the greatness his fantasy team could become...
  4. Casey
    4. Posted by Casey Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:16 pm EDT

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    As much as I loved this column, I expect Dusty to ruin Cueto's arm by about mid-season.
  5. Kurt C
    5. Posted by Kurt C Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:59 pm EDT

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    Behrens, if there were a stat category in your league for "funniest columns", you would be getting the 12! Rock, on bro!
  6. loxik_mnr
    6. Posted by loxik_mnr Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:58 pm EDT

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    Incredible post about Cueto. I loved it. Thank you.
  7. Lee Majors
    7. Posted by Lee Majors Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:44 pm EDT

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    "As much as I loved this column, I expect Dusty to ruin Cueto's arm by about mid-season."
    Yeah, Cueto does not appear to have one of those Joba-style innings caps. They weren't really erring on the side of caution yesterday.
    "I wouldn't be surprised to see Andy repeat a championship in the Yahoo! Friends and family league."
    My .100-hitting Tigers don't share the optimism.
  8. Jeremiah
    8. Posted by Jeremiah Wed Apr 09, 2008 10:13 am EDT

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    Fool me twice and what not, but maybe Dusty is learning a little. Mark Prior's pitch totals in his first two starts under D.B.: 133, 131. Cueto's: 92, 96. I know Prior had part of a season under his belt and that it's just two starts, but it seems to hint at a different philosophy.
  9. Lee Majors
    9. Posted by Lee Majors Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:44 pm EDT

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    I'm seeing 105 and 112 pitches in 15 innings for Prior. But still, looking at the old game log, he exceeded 100 pitches in 16 of his first 18 games with Dusty (and the two times he didn't, it was 95 and 97). He threw more than 110 pitches 11 times during that stretch, and went over 120 four times.
    Then in September: 131, 129, 109, 124, 131, 133. Yikes.
    Of course, Dusty was gripped by World Series fever, just like the rest of us.
  10. swheat2000
    10. Posted by swheat2000 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:52 pm EDT

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    People forget the reason that Dusty ruined Prior and Wood...the Cubs had a TERRIBLE bullpen in 2003. The Reds have at least 2 bullpen studs in Weathers and Cordero as well as a few decent vets like Mercker and Affeldt.
    I look for him to be fairly cautious with Cueto and Volquez as long as their bullpen is decent.
  11. scottiegrundig
    11. Posted by scottiegrundig Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:08 pm EDT

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    hahahahahahahaha. incredible.
  12. Jeremiah
    12. Posted by Jeremiah Wed Apr 09, 2008 11:24 am EDT

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    My bad, i was looking at the last two games of 2003. It is interesting to note that in 2003 of Prior, Wood, and Zambrano, they had all thrown more than 120 pitches in a game by mid-may, including Wood's 141 pitch (only 7 innings!!!) performance on 5/10/2003 . It seems Clement's asthma and Estes' general suckiness saved them from such abuse (though Clement would throw 127 pitches in a late August complete game)
  13. Kevin W
    13. Posted by Kevin W Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:34 pm EDT

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    somehow, someway pitchers from long ago threw many more pitches and many more innings than the better conditioned athletes today and their arms didn't fall off.
  14. scooter281
    14. Posted by scooter281 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:08 pm EDT

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    I still think Brad Hennessey looks like he's about to pick up a banjo.
    Cueto is so good, he strikes out guys with just one pitch. They just return to the bench crying after the first one crosses the plate.
    The Big Bang was actually the sound of a Cueto fastball breaking first the sound barrier, then the light barrier, then crashing into the catcher's mit.
    Cueto only comes out of games because the Player's Union demands it.
    Any more Chuck Norris-isms from anyone?
  15. Michael L
    15. Posted by Michael L Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:18 pm EDT

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    i would have cueto if he exested in the begining
  16. Billy Mahone
    16. Posted by Billy Mahone Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:44 pm EDT

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    The only real rocket is Jonny cueto... el Cohete cueto!!!
  17. Dan
    17. Posted by Dan Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:46 pm EDT

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    Anyone else sigh in relief when they saw that this Closing Time was written by Andy Behrens? Ok, now I actually read this column and get some insight.
  18. daniel g
    18. Posted by daniel g Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:35 pm EDT

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    "There is widespread agreement that if we harvest Cueto's stem cells, they will cure death." I love that line Andy. The Cueto stuff is top-notch. I've never been so happy to have the last pick in the draft and get that No. 1 waiver priority.
  19. Benson
    19. Posted by Benson Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm EDT

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    When Cueto won a big league job, the Reds AAA affiliate did not replace Cueto in the rotation. Instead, they put a card board cut-out of Cueto on the mound every 5th day. The cut-out is averaging 13.5 K/9.
  20. !%@?#
    20. Posted by !%@?# Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:10 pm EDT

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    Brutal! Closer by committee sounds as good as Running Back by committee, from a fantasy standpoint it is a blown save!
  21. Milad
    21. Posted by Milad Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:20 pm EDT

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    Andy is great and all...but all this fawning is pretty ridiculous. Seriously, how many of these ppl belonged to your frat in college, Behrens?
    Anyways, Im trying to guage whether this Cueto craziness is bigger than the Lincecum madness of last year, and it seems to be. Im pretty sure that if Yahoo had allowed me to grab him 2 months ago when I wanted him, I couldve dealt him for any combination of Miguel Cabrera, Alfonso Soriano, or the also-struggling Scientology God at this point of the season. Why, Yahoo, WHY?!?
  22. Tee D
    22. Posted by Tee D Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:59 pm EDT

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    Lar
  23. Cuba Gooding Sr.
    23. Posted by Cuba Gooding Sr. Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:04 pm EDT

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    No mention of Mark Reynolds hitting his 5th HR and taking the #1 overall ranking? I'll let the cat out of the bag. Stop whatever yr doing (most likely reading this message) and go pick him up! Get to the chopper! Do it now!
  24. Tee D
    24. Posted by Tee D Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:59 pm EDT

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    Cueto only comes to the game because his JERSEY says so!
  25. JUMBO
    25. Posted by JUMBO Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:44 pm EDT

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    Yea, Behrens is my go to guy for baseball.
    #15 I just made this one up, let me know what you think:
    - Johnny Cueto plays Jai Alai with his bare hands...and wins.
    and if you dont know what Jai Alai is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09L6_-hWy48

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