Johnny Cueto to Start for Reds in NL Wild Card

Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Latos taken down for arm soreness

Seems like Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto will be getting the start in Tuesday night’s NL Wild Card game. John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweeted the change. Fay also has in the tweet that his original starter for that game, Mat Latos, has an arm that’s “barking”.

Cueto was to start tomorrow’s game. In a season where Cueto has hit the disabled list on three occasions, I don’t believe many thought Cueto would ever be getting this start.

And so much for Baker moving Latos up to pitch this past Wednesday. It was a move that was made for the express reason to have his ace hurl the WC game. Now Reds fans will have to hope that Latos could go in game 1 of the NLDS provided they get out of Pittsburgh with a win.

And that Latos is healthy.

As per the usual, whenever news such as this hits, Twitter goes berserk. There were conspiracy theories about the relationship between Latos and Baker and the arm soreness was used as a cover. That may be put to bed now.

Over his career, Cueto has made 21 starts against the Pirates. He owns a record of 13-4 with a 2.37 ERA and 1.015 WHIP. In the 13 games he has started at PNC Park, the record 8-2 with an ERA of 1.90 and a WHIP of 0.891.

Cueto’s opponent will be Francisco Liriano, who has held much success at his new home. In his 11 home starts this season, Liriano is 8-1. His ERA is 1.47 and his WHIP is 0.964.