Cueto Considers Changes to Avoid Re-Injury

Johnny Cueto is set to return to the Reds rotation tonight with a start against the New York Mets. Cueto has been on the disabled list since mid-April with a recurring oblique injury.

Cueto was the Reds ace last season, as he won 19 games and finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. He was 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.04 WHIP this season before being placed on the disabled list. The Reds and fantasy owners alike will be happy to get one of their best pitchers back, but it’s not entirely clear how it will go for him moving forward.

Cueto’s oblique injury was caused by his unorthodox mechanics that involves an “exaggerated turn” at the end of his delivery. He began throwing in this manner in 2011. Before tweaking his mechanics, Cueto had a career 4.27 ERA. Since tweaking them he has posted a fantastic career 2.58 ERA.

Cueto’s oblique injury has put him on the disabled list multiple times in the past few seasons. It even kept him from pitching in an important NLDS game last post-season. Cueto claims that he is going to consider tweaking his mechanics once again to avoid further injury. If he doesn’t change something, this nagging injury will likely come again. If he changes something, you just have to keep your fingers crossed that he will continue to pitch like an ace.

Cueto is a great pitcher, but an injury like this is causing a predicament for him moving forward. Pay attention to whether or not he changes his mechanics at all. If he doesn’t, it may not be the worst idea to trade the pitcher with the assumption that he will hurt himself again.

Cueto Considers Changes to Avoid Re-Injury

Johnny Cueto is set to return to the Reds rotation tonight with a start against the New York Mets. Cueto has been on the disabled list since mid-April with a recurring oblique injury.

Cueto was the Reds ace last season, as he won 19 games and finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting. He was 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.04 WHIP this season before being placed on the disabled list. The Reds and fantasy owners alike will be happy to get one of their best pitchers back, but it’s not entirely clear how it will go for him moving forward.

Cueto’s oblique injury was caused by his unorthodox mechanics that involves an “exaggerated turn” at the end of his delivery. He began throwing in this manner in 2011. Before tweaking his mechanics, Cueto had a career 4.27 ERA. Since tweaking them he has posted a fantastic career 2.58 ERA.

Cueto’s oblique injury has put him on the disabled list multiple times in the past few seasons. It even kept him from pitching in an important NLDS game last post-season. Cueto claims that he is going to consider tweaking his mechanics once again to avoid further injury. If he doesn’t change something, this nagging injury will likely come again. If he changes something, you just have to keep your fingers crossed that he will continue to pitch like an ace.

Cueto is a great pitcher, but an injury like this is causing a predicament for him moving forward. Pay attention to whether or not he changes his mechanics at all. If he doesn’t, it may not be the worst idea to trade the pitcher with the assumption that he will hurt himself again.

Hold Onto Arizona’s Aaron Hill

Since fracturing his left hand in April, Diamondbacks second baseman Aaron Hill is being dropped in more and more fantasy baseball leagues every day. Though it was expected that he would return soon, he suffered a set back in his recovery and will have to wait a bit longer before coming off the disabled list. His doctor told him that he will need more time to allow the bone to heal before resuming baseball activities.

Even though it’s discouraging to see that he needs more time, it certainly is NOT a good idea to be dropping him from your rosters.

Hill has been with the Diamondbacks since mid-2011. Though he was inconsistent with the Blue Jays, he has been fantastic since moving to Arizona. In 199 career games with the D’backs he has a batting average of .304 and a slugging percentage of .519. He started off the 2013 season no different, as he was batting .306 with 2 home runs in his first 10 games before he was injured. Chase Field in Arizona has been a very good home ballpark for Hill who has recorded a career .916 OPS there.

Hill was number 2 among second baseman on ESPN’s player rater in the 2012 season, behind only Robinson Cano. Even with this setback, it’s still possible that he can return by the beginning of June. Last year, he batted .370 in the month of June with 6 home runs and 20 RBI.

Though it might take him a little while to get back into the groove of hitting, there’s a good chance that he will be a highly effective fantasy player again. Unless you have an injury-ridden team and have injured players that are better than Hill, there is really no reason that he should be dropped. If you see him on the waiver wire in your league, take advantage of someone else’s mistake and stash him on your DL spot.