Coming into this season most thought the Cincinnati Reds would have one of the strongest starting pitching rotations in the National League, if not in all of baseball. However, before the season even began both Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey hit the disabled list. Both came back around the same time but Bailey has hit the DL once again and the rotation has been a revolving door with guys coming up from the minors to fill in gaps. Cueto, on the other hand, has been the shining light in the rotation as we enter the early part of June. He's silently been taking the mound and pumping out quality start after quality start.

Since coming off the DL on May 8th, Cueto has had 6 starts, all but one of them has been a quality outing. His record stands at 2-2 but could easily be 6-0 if either the offense hadn't failed him, or the bullpen hadn't given away games. He hasn't given up more than three runs in any game which has him leading the team with an ERA of 2.27, one of the best in the league. In 39.2 innings pitched so far this season he's only given up three home runs and has struck out 23.

In Cueto's outing yesterday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he pitched a solid seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out three. The Reds offense built a nice 7-2 lead for him only to see the bullpen blow it by giving up five runs in the eighth inning. What should have been a sure win for Cueto turned into an extra innings loss for the Redlegs. The bullpen was thought to be one of the strongest in baseball coming into this season but time and time again have blown games behind solid starting pitching. Cueto did what he had to do yesterday to get his team the win. He was taken out of the game after just 88 pitches. Hindsight is 20/20. With a 7-2 lead going into the eighth inning you would think, being Dusty Baker, that you could trust your bullpen to come in and close out the game. Unfortunately for Cueto, and ultimately the team as a whole, that was not the case yesterday.

In a season that has seen it share of ups and downs already for the Reds, especially when it comes to the pitching, the one constant has been Cueto so far. Travis Wood, Bronson Arroyo and Edinson Volquez (who was sent down to the minors to fix himself and set to come back tomorrow night possibly) have been inconsistent all season, to say the least. Cueto has stepped up and at this point has become the ace of this pitching staff. Coming into the season the thought was, if he could stay under control and stay focused, he could be one of the best starters in the rotation, if not in the league. He has, and he is. If the Reds are going to get back to the playoffs this year they are going to need Cueto to continue to do what he's doing. More importantly, they're going to need some of what he's been doing to rub off on the rest of the rotation.

MLB cincinnati reds, johnny cueto, homer bailey, dusty baker, los angeles dodgers, travis wood, bronson arroyo, edinson volquez