Miami Marlins Divulge Plan For Struggling Veteran

The Miami Marlins have activated veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto from the injured list, but they won't be putting him in the starting rotation.

Instead, they'll opt to use him in long relief.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Cueto (biceps) was activated from the 60-day injured list Monday, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

ANALYSIS
Per Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, the Marlins' plan is to use Cueto in relief, at least initially. Given the veteran righty's poor lone start for the Marlins early on this season and his 10.24 ERA in seven rehab outings, it makes sense to deploy Cueto in long relief for now.

Given his struggles, the plan does make sense, but it was also a possibility that he joined the rotation in the wake of the team sending down young phenom Eury Perez for innings limit purposes.

Cueto is in his 16th year in the big leagues with the Reds, Royals, Giants, White Sox and Marlins.

He is a two-time All-Star selection who helped the Royals win the 2015 World Series.

For his career, he's 143-108 with a 3.46 ERA. He led the majors in innings pitched (243.2) in 2014 and led the league in strikeouts that same year.

He's battled injuries the last several years, having only thrown 150 or more innings once since 2017.

He's made one appearance for the Marlins this year, allowing four runs in one inning.

The Marlins are currently 53-39 and in the first wild card spot in the National League.