SAN FRANCISCO — That was no case of crossed signals. Johnny Cueto really had the green light, manager Gabe Kapler explained Saturday afternoon, a day after his dynamic, eccentric starter swiped the first base by a Giants hurler in 18 seasons.
For a long time, Cueto said, he’s told his coaches, I’m going to steal if I get the green light.
And on a 2-2 pitch to Lamonte Wade in the third inning of Friday’s 6-4 loss to the Pirates, there it was. Pittsburgh starter Chad Kuhl was taking his time to home plate and first baseman John Nogowski was playing off the bag. Cueto, who worked a walk to reach first base, took an aggressive lead and made it four steps before leaving his helmet in the dust behind him.
“I read his feet,” Cueto said Friday night through an interpreter. “I figured as soon as he lifts his hands and puts them to his chest, I was going to take off. And that’s exactly what I did.”
Cueto chugged into second base standing up — with a grin about 90 feet long on his face.
Johnny Cueto: SPEED DEMON 🏃😂 pic.twitter.com/VPWS8EtuDh
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 24, 2021
“I love that he’s such a showman,” Kapler said before Saturday’s game. “He’s got a flair for the dramatic and a style that is unique and all his own. I think that style is an important part of this team. We need some emotion and Johnny brings that to us.”
And, Kapler added, “his sprint speed is real.”
For any number of reasons — injury risk, athleticism, a simple lack of opportunities, to name a few — it’s rare to see a pitcher utilize his legs on the basepaths. No Giants pitcher had stolen a base since Kirk Rueter singled and swiped second against Arizona on Aug. 29, 2003.
Cueto suffers from no lack of athleticism. He’s been fielding ground balls at second base in pregame warmups, and Kapler said Cueto could outrun a handful of Giants position players.
Kapler said he’d like give more pitchers the green light to run, but often concern over injury outweighs the potential of picking up an additional 90 feet.
“There are a lot of times when a first baseman isn’t holding a pitcher on where we want to run, and the only thing that holds us back is injury,” Kapler said. “How badly would we like to have this pitcher on second base? Is it worth him slipping and falling? Something weird happening? In Johnny’s case, I think he’s really prepared to run, so I wasn’t as worried.”
As for the rest of the Giants’ pitching staff? Well, maybe it won’t be another 18 years. But don’t count on another green light anytime soon.
Cueto will be biding his time.
“If they give me the green light,” he said, “I’ll go ahead and take it.”
