Johnny Cueto leaves first Miami Marlins start with arm injury against Minnesota Twins

Johnny Cueto’s first start with the Miami Marlins lasted all of 30 pitches.

Cueto, pitching in the first game of his 16th MLB season Monday, left the Marlins’ 11-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at loanDepot park with right biceps tightness in the middle of an at-bat with Christian Vazquez in the second inning.

A team trainer, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and manager Skip Schumaker went to the mound to check on Cueto before he left the game.

“The last thing I want to do is keep pushing him the first start of the season,” Schumaker said.

Cueto said he felt the discomfort during his pre-game bullpen session but “didn’t say anything.”

“I was just trying to work through it and battle through it,” Cueto said.

He is scheduled to get an MRI on Tuesday. Schumaker did not want to speculate on a timetable for Cueto until getting the results.

“That’s why you get the imaging, so you can see how you treat it,” Schumaker said. “It can go a number of different directions. ... That’s why you let the doctors handle that part of it and then we can move from there.”

To that point, Cueto had already allowed four runs on a pair of home runs — a solo shot to Max Kepler in the first and a three-run home run to Joey Gallo in the second five pitches before exiting the game.

“The pitch clock was kind of running down and he didn’t really seem that worried about the clock. He was more worried about something else,” catcher Jacob Stallings said. “That’s when I knew or thought that something might be up.”

Cueto, who the Marlins signed this offseason to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season, had dealt with what the team called “general arm soreness” during the final weeks of spring training. He said the injury Monday was in the same area as the discomfort during spring training.

Before that, Cueto struggled in spring training and also had his routine impacted by participating in the World Baseball Classic.

Cueto said he was “rushing” to get ready for the season, which could have played a factor in the injury.

Jeff Lindgren, who the Marlins called up pregame Monday, made his MLB debut in relief of Cueto. He pitched five innings, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks while throwing 80 pitches. Andrew Nardi, JT Chargois and Stallings pitched the final three innings.

The Marlins added Lindgren, a 24th-round pick in 2019 who split time last season between Double A Pensacola and Triple A Jacksonville, to the roster as an insurance move that turned out to be a necessity.

Marlins starting pitchers only went a combined 19 2/3 innings in the four-game series against the New York Mets, which put a heavy load on the bullpen.

Braxton Garrett, a starter who made the Opening Day roster as a long-reliever, threw three innings on Saturday and was optioned to Triple A Jacksonville to make room for Lindgren. Huascar Brazoban pitched 4 2/3 innings across two outings — two innings Thursday, 2 2/3 innings Sunday. Miami needed a fresh arm who could pitch multiple innings.

“I hate doing it to Brax,” Schumaker said, “but the reality is we just kind of had to wear out that bullpen and needed a fresh arm just in case.”

This was the second injury news of the day for the Marlins. Shortstop Joey Wendle was scratched from the lineup with right oblique soreness that occurred during batting practice. Jon Berti replaced him in the lineup.