On the bright side, Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto will have a few days to compose himself after a rough weekend.
Cueto on Sunday showed a rare burst of anger when he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in an eventual 8-1 loss in Miami, first knocking over a Gatorade cooler and then throwing his hands up in frustration.
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The tantrum capped a frustrating few days, first, after he just missed getting into the hometown All-Star Game on the Final Fan Vote and, then, he surrendered five runs in five innings with subpar stuff Sunday.
Reds manager Bryan Price said he addressed the issue with Cueto, Cincinnati.com reported.
“That’s what happens when you’re where we are in the standings,” Price said of his team, 39-47 and 15 1/2 games out of first in the NL Central at the All-Star break. “He wants to pitch. It was not the right way to handle it. We discussed that. He knows that. That’s not typical Johnny to have that type of reaction. I certainly don’t condone it.”
After the game, Cueto expressed regret.
“I feel bad,” Cueto said. “I get frustrated. We’re all frustrated. Things happen. The manager is the manager, and he has to do things like that. That’s what he’s going to do.”
Of course, playing in the background is that Cueto wears the label "most likely Red to be traded" in in the next two-plus weeks.
“I’m going to let that in God’s hands,” Cueto said. “I still wear my Cincinnati jersey. That’s what I’m going to be thinking about. We’ll see what happens after the All-Star Game.”
The Reds were outscored 22-3 in the final two games of the first half. After Sunday's loss, Price held a 30-minute clubhouse meeting.
Changes are likely coming for the Reds, Cincinnati.com predicted. Besides Cueto, other free-agents-to-be — Mike Leake, Brayan Pena, Manny Parra and Skip Schumaker — could be moved as well. Marlon Byrd, Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman could also be on the block.
Before Sunday's second consecutive bellyflop, Price had acknowledged as much.
“I think we all cumulatively wait to see what happens if we have a change in our roster,” Price said. “We kind of wait for the shoe to fall.
“Yeah, we talk about it. You can see guys are concerned. Guys that everyone talks about are guys who would like to stay here. But one thing we talk about is this is a part of baseball.”
