The scariest name in baseball usually leads to the three scariest words in the game. Undoubtedly, we're talking about Dr. James Andrews and Tommy John surgery.
After going on the 10-day DL with elbow inflamation on May 1, Johnny Cueto was set to see Andrews and the idea of Tommy John surgery was said everywhere. Surprisingly, that wasn't the case. Andrews diagnosed Cueto with a sprained right elbow and did not recommend season-ending surgery.
"We feel really good with how we went about the second opinion with Dr. James Andrews," Giants VP of baseball operations Brian Sabean said Thursday on KNBR.
Even Sabean admitted he was surprised with the results. At the time Cueto hit the DL, he was serving as San Francisco's ace with a 3-0 record and 0.84 ERA.
"I was expecting the worst," Sabean said. "But any time something's strained or sprained, that's never good. The area in there in the elbow is somewhat compromised and you hope that rest and rehab is going to do the trick to avoid surgery."
The hope is both relieving and scary. Cueto doesn't need surgery now, but he's had a history with elbow issues and you never know how he will respond to rehab.
"It's a wait-and-see game, but that's a long way off in the horizon and we'll see how we survive without him and Bumgarner," Sabean said.
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The Giants originally placed Cueto's timetable as six to eight weeks. Fans will have to wait for the return of Cueto for at least eight weeks as the team placed him on the 60-day DL.
