Texas Rangers sign former 2-time All-Star pitcher
The Texas Rangers are taking a flyer on a former 2-time All-Star pitcher.
The Rangers on Tuesday signed Johnny Cueto to a minor-league contract.
Cueto was apparently drawn to the Rangers because he views the defending World Series champions as a contender, and because of his relationship with the team’s manager, Bruce Bochy.
READ MORE:
Cueto spent 2016-2021 with the Giants. Bochy managed San Francisco for the first four of those seasons.
Cueto won 19 games in 2012, 20 games in 2014 and 18 in 2016. His most recent productive season came with the White Sox in 2022 when he went 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA. The 38-year-old went 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA over 13 games with the Marlins last season.
Rangers’ Bruce Bochy reveals massive Max Scherzer injury update
Texas got a massive update regarding Scherzer on Saturday.
The Rangers are currently dealing with a number of pitcher injuries, one of which revolves around Max Scherzer. Last December, Scherzer underwent surgery for a herniated disc and was expected to be out until June or July.
But the Rangers star seems to be making good progress, and Texas manager Bruce Bochy had an encouraging update, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network:
“Max Scherzer is expected to begin his minor-league injury rehab assignment on Wednesday, Bruce Bochy said in our @MLBNetwork interview today. The Braves and Rangers meet in our Showcase Game at 7 pm ET.”
There were reports earlier in the week that Scherzer seemed to be progressing ahead of schedule and could return to the Rangers in May.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports had further details, “Scherzer told me last week that he’s still a little bit cautious about this whole thing only because he has to pass each step with everything checked off. But so far so good — he has checked every box and they’re looking forward to him returning much sooner than expected.”
For what it’s worth, in February, Scherzer provided some update on his condition and noted that he feels “great” but is being “cautious” despite not feeling any sort of pain. He is staying in shape while waiting to be fully cleared to do baseball activities. Scherzer, on Wednesday, was spotted playing catch but has yet to throw against hitters.
