Blue Jays: Club reportedly "in on" right-handed veteran Johnny Cueto

The Toronto Blue Jays have been making relevant cannon ball splashes so far in the free agency market, and rumours have it that right-handed pitcher, Johnny Cueto could their next target.

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet mentioned the Blue Jays have expressed interest in right-handed veteran Johnny Cueto.

The Jays have recently added a set of pitchers to the bullpen, in exchange for outfielder Teoscar Hernández while also adding veteran outfielder Kevin Kieramaier to a free agent deal. Most recently, Toronto inked former New York Mets right-hander, Chris Bassitt, throwing the Blue Jays brand as the possible top pitching staffs in the American League.

Now, adding Johnny Cueto to that party, what would that look like?

I’ve watched Johnny Cueto for most of his career; I’ve seen different variations of the righty, and physically, he’s more locked in now than ever. The Dominican-born hurler was employed on the mound by the Chicago White Sox last season. Cueto went 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA in 25 games, 158.1 innings pitched.  He struck out an impressive 102 batters while only walking 33, and carry a 1.225 WHIP. Cueto is a work horse.

Cueto has stuck to an effective repertoire while adjusting his angle on wind and release, from unorthodox to funky. However, his approach or filth never changed. He’s an aggressive strike thrower, working all ends of the plate with dart and loops.

Cueto will work a count with a very equally distributed repertoire, throwing his sinker as his primary out pitch, followed by a changeup, fastball, cutter, slider, and curveball. At 36 years of age, he sits between 91-93 max on his fastball velocity; not ideal for the current standard, but well compensated by the use of his toolbelt of effective pitches.

At this moment, the No. 5 starter spot is up for grabs, and with a possible addition of Cueto to the rotation, that would be a wrap. We will follow this through as the week moves on, Johnny Cueto in a Blue Jay uniform would be something to see!