San Francisco starting pitcher Johnny Cueto will not need Tommy John surgery after was placed on the 10-day disabled list last Tuesday, but he’ll still miss six to eight weeks according to the Giants.

Cueto saw Dr. James Andrew to confirm that he wasn’t going to need surgery to repair any potential damage. Fortunately for the Giants’, he’s not going to need surgery; which has manager Bruce Bochy feeling better than he was expecting.

“It is great news,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I was hoping for the best and hoping he would not need surgery.” – ESPN News Servies

Cueto’s loss is going to be hard for San Francisco to overcome, especially since Madison Bumgarner is just now starting to throw again after a Spring Training injury. It’s going to be tough for the Giants to remain in contention without two of their projected starting rotation, especially since the 10-year veteran has pitched so well.

The 32-year old is experiencing a bit of a renaissance this season as he’s already been worth .9 wins this season. In 32 innings this season, Cueto has pitched 0.84/2.78/3.87 while striking out 22.2% of hitters he’s faced (in line with his career norm) and walking only 5.1% (below career norms). He’s pitched this well primarily because he’s induced less a less hard contact than he ever has during his career…which has led to an unsustainably low BABIP against of .185.

While Cueto has pitched out of his mind so far this season, this is the second time he’s missed starts this season. Earlier in April he missed a pair of starts after spraining his left ankle. The Giants should probably start planning for a future without Cueto as the veteran is starting to struggle with his health.

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