‘He’s been sensational’: 3 numbers that highlight Johnny Cueto’s early success with the Chicago White Sox

The New York Yankees had something brewing early in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox.

Aaron Judge singled and Anthony Rizzo walked, putting Johnny Cueto in a bind with one out in the first inning. Cueto quickly worked out of trouble, striking out Giancarlo Stanton looking and getting Josh Donaldson to line out to third.

Cueto would go on to deliver a pitching clinic with six shutout innings.

He didn’t factor in the decision in a game the Sox won 3-1, but he continued to impress in his first week with the team.

Cueto hasn’t allowed an earned run in 12 innings with 12 strikeouts and four walks in two starts since the Sox purchased his contract from Triple-A Charlotte on May 16.

“He’s been sensational,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Tuesday. “It’s been fun to watch him pitch, the way he disrupts timing, the way he shows different arm angles, the whole thing is entertaining, not just because of the zeros but because of the show he puts on each start.”

Cueto is the scheduled starter for the Sox on Saturday against the Cubs in the City Series at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“He’s an intense competitor, obviously a very intelligent pitcher from what you’ve seen on the field,” Hahn said. “But in the clubhouse and in the training room, he is all business. For those three hours, you may get some chuckles along the way from how he’s messing with hitters, but it’s all part of a larger plan and maintenance program that he takes extremely seriously.

“And it’s a good influence on the other guys.”

Here’s a look at some of Cueto’s standout numbers.

6

Cueto struck out the Royals’ Whit Merrifield, Andrew Benintendi and Salvador Perez in the first inning of his first start May 16 in Kansas City, Mo.

He went on to pitch six shutout innings but did not factor in the decision in the a game the Sox won 5-3 in 10 innings.

Luis Robert, who hit the go-ahead, two-run homer in the 10th, summed up what it would be like facing Cueto by saying through an interpreter, “It would be very difficult.”

Cueto followed up the Royals start with six-plus shutout innings against the Yankees. He exited after allowing back-to-back singles in the seventh.

According to Elias, he became the first pitcher in franchise history with six-plus scoreless innings pitched in each of his first two appearances with the team.

12

Royals third baseman Emmanuel Rivera hit a grounder in the sixth inning of the May 16 game that first baseman José Abreu got a glove on but couldn’t make the play. The ball deflected to second baseman Leury García, who saw Cueto was covering first and threw to him for the out.

“The one thing I think everyone got to see is he’s a freak athlete,” Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz said the next day. “People might not realize that. But how fast he got to first base ... that’s something that a lot of people might not realize or know about him, but he’s probably one of the best athletes in this locker room. And he’s 36.”

Two Royals reached in the sixth before Cueto retired the following two hitters to end the inning — and his day.

After more success at Yankee Stadium, Cueto said in a statement the key to keeping the Yankees off-balance was locating his pitches up and down in the zone.

Cueto’s scoreless-innings streak is the third longest by a Sox starter to begin his career with the team since 1974, according to STATS. Ken Brett tops the list with 17 innings in 1976. Jack McDowell is second with 13 in 1987.

.191

Cueto has been known for using a shimmy-shake type of delivery occasionally to disrupt a batter’s timing.

“I’ve been doing that throughout my whole career,” Cueto said through an interpreter after the Royals game. “Every time I’m on the mound, I’m just having fun. That’s a way for me to have fun too.”

There’s no official count on the number of deliveries, but the pitches have been effective.

He retired the first nine hitters against the Royals before Merrifield singled leading off the fourth. The Royals had two hits against Cueto and the Yankees had had six.

Cueto is holding hitters to a .191 average (8-for-42).

Sox manager Tony La Russa said before the doubleheader against the Yankees: “Keep him healthy (and) he’s going to be a huge asset for us.”