KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The day before his first postseason start with the Royals, Johnny Cueto — the former Cincinnati Reds right-hander acquired just before the trade deadline — dismissed his lackluster final two months of the season cavalierly, as if some less capable lookalike parachuted in to pitch in his place.
“That season is over,” Cueto said, as translated by Pedro Grifol, the Royals’ hitting coach. “This is a new season. And you’ll get to see what Johnny Cueto is all about.”
At first, Johnny Cueto pitched no differently than the other one, giving up four runs through the first three innings of Game 2 of Kansas City’s American League division series against Houston.