Is Cueto an ace?
Ask me at the end of the 2012 season.
Is Cueto an ace?
Ask me at the end of the 2012 season.
I'd sure love for him to be considered one by all of baseball... I'm tired of sitting on this low number Bowman Chrome RC refractors...
2010 Mock Draft Selections (picking for Rays)
Bryce Brentz
Brandon Workman
Kris Bryant
Matt Lipka
Rick Hague
I am with Rick.... he isn't even close. He is a middle of the rotation starter who had some very good luck that made his numbers look better than his performance actually was or should be moving forward without improvement on his behalf.
I have said it a few times in the last week, but I feel that I could make a solid argument that Cueto might be the Reds 4th best starter behind Latos, Leake and Bailey. Of course I could also make a solid argument he is the 2nd best behind Latos, but that is kind of the point. No one is thinking Bailey or Leake are anything close to Aces, but Cueto, aside from his ERA in one season, hasn't shown he is able to really be separated from those two guys.
He's a strong number 3. Ace is a term used too loosely. There are maybe 15, maybe less in all of the majors.
BTW - Latos is a number 2, Arroyo a strong 4, Leake a 4. Chapman and Bailey are question marks. There are no number 5s IMO. Just question marks who either move up the scale or fade away.
This is the season with the least question marks penciled into the rotation since the early 60s IMO.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
There's a lot of wishcasting going on when folks look at the local team.
How many solid major leaguers are in the reds lineup....Votto, Phillips, Bruce and....and that's really it isn't it? Everybody else has questions around them. Can Cozart do it all year long? Can Stubbs cash in on his tools? Can Rolen stay healthy?
The Bullpen looked great and then the injuries hit.....How many guys down there are going to be able to stay healthy and good?
Starters....It's quite possible that Bronson Arroyo will be the best starter this team has over the course of the season. Say that again with a straight face....Yeah, I couldn't either.
I HOPE they win 100 games and then 12 more in the post season. That would be fine with me, but when you get past the happy talk and all, there are some serious warts on this lineup.
"Even a bad day at the ballpark beats the snot out of most other good days. I'll take my scorecard and pencil and beer and hot dog and rage at the dips and cheer at the highs, but I'm not ever going to stop loving this game and this team and nobody will ever take that away from me." Roy Tucker October 2010
I'm not sure what defines an "ace" so it's hard to say. If I had to guess, I'd say it would mean one of the 30 best starters in baseball.
If this is the definition, I'd have to say no, he's not.
If the definition of "ace" is your team's best starter, I'd have to say Latos is better than Cueto.
To me, Cueto is a slightly better than league average to league average starting pitcher. It will be interesting to see how he does this year.
If all we have are No. 2 and 3 starters, the season will never start.
Is he a stopper? Can we count on him to break a losing streak? Can we count on him for eight innings or more when the bullpen is fried? Is he the guy you want starting twice in a postseason series?
My answer would be: Not yet. But I think he's underrated.
If all we have are No. 2 and 3 starters, the season will never start.
Is he a stopper? Can we count on him to break a losing streak? Can we count on him for eight innings or more when the bullpen is fried? Is he the guy you want starting twice in a postseason series?
My answer would be: Not yet. But I think he's underrated.
An ace is, by its very definition, one of the top 30 starters in baseball. Last season, Cueto was an ace, as he was one of those top 30. (Though his inning workload put him in the last part of that particular group, IMO.)
Latos is an entirely different argument.
For me, an ace is a pitcher with whom I feel comfortable pitching game 1 of a playoff series.
Last season, Cueto fit that description. We'll see if he does this year as well. Latos definitely fits that description this year.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
We shall see...
"This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again." -- Terence Mann
In the modern game, the ability to miss bats is pretty important. While there are exceptions, it is rare for guys with K/9 under 7 to sustain success, and therefore reach "ace" status. Even guys like Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter achieved new levels of success after figuring out how to strike out batters at a higher rate. Cueto's K/9 is headed in the wrong direction.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
I think it's too early to be having this discussion. Cueto just put it together. He obviously worked on relying on his defense, something Volquez wouldn't do. Pitch to contact.
But Cueto can get that K when he needs too. But he is trying to go 7+ innings. The stronger he gets, the more K's you will see.
Last edited by Johnny Footstool; 04-05-2012 at 09:33 AM.
"I prefer books and movies where the conflict isn't of the extreme cannibal apocalypse variety I guess." Redsfaithful
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