‘Forever legend’: Former KC Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto returns, starts for Angels

The very mention of Johnny Cueto’s name still stirs fond memories in many Kansas City Royals fans. It probably always will.

The sentiment is understandable: Cueto helped the Royals win the 2015 World Series for their first championship in 30 years.

Now, at age 38, the right-hander is back in the majors. But on Wednesday, he was pitching against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. He got the start for his current team, the Los Angeles Angels, in the finale of a three-game series.

Cueto last pitched in the major leagues in September 2023 with the Miami Marlins. He was called up Tuesday from the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake City — L.A. acquired him last month after he opted out of an assignment with his previous team, the Texas Rangers.

The Royals and Los Angeles split their first two games this week, so the Angels were hoping Cueto might help them win the series. That didn’t happen. The Royals knocked him around for eight hits and three earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out one and walked three.

Now with his sixth MLB club in a career spanning more than a decade and a half, and Wednesday’s outing aside, Cueto is certainly capable of lending some veteran presence to a big-league clubhouse.

“I don’t know if he can come up here right now and start being a leader,” Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters after Tuesday night’s game. “He’s worried about being Cueto. If he happens to stay around, I think he definitely can influence our young kids.”

Cueto had been 5-1 with a 4.76 earned-run average in 13 minor-league starts this year. He entered Wednesday’s start with a career major-league record of 144-111 and lifetime ERA of 3.50.

He went just 4-7 (4.76 ERA) in his half-season with the Royals, but that probably isn’t what Royals fans recall most about the pitcher their team acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in a July 2015 trade.

Cueto’s legacy here is rooted in performances like the complete game he threw in Game 2 of the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets and his masterful outing in the 2015 ALDS clincher against Houston.

That day, he retired the last 19 Astros he faced en route to a victory that sent the Royals back to the American League Championship Series for a second straight season.

Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said the club had been looking for starting pitching help that year.

“At the time, there were two needs we had,“ Picollo said. “It was starting pitching and also somebody to help our offense. Always having that extra starting pitcher is important, and one that was as talented as he was really important.”

Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg explained why the trade for Cueto meant so much to Royals fans.

“When they acquired him, it was a bold statement,” Goldberg said. “I mean, this was a team that was trying to get back to the World Series, but still in many ways (was) thought of as a Cinderella or the underdog — a small-market team.

“To me, it was a big flex to go out there, sacrifice your future, give up some talent and go out and get one of the guys that was one of the best starters in baseball. I remember when we got that news: It was a Sunday, right before we were going on the air for the pre-game show. It was a huge, huge deal.”

Picollo, of course, will never forget Cueto’s opus in the 2015 World Series.

“That signature game was such a big game — a big win for us,” he said. “He had pitched OK in the time he was with us, but that game was the validation for why we were buyers at the deadline.”

Goldberg will always remember Cueto’s pitching quirks — a shimmy and quick-pitch were among his trademarks.

“He was such a unique pitcher with the unique delivery and the flair — just different than anyone else in the game,” Goldberg said. “He was bold. With the hair and deliveries, he knew what he wanted to do. He was very confident and he fit in very well with this team.”

Because he made the Wednesday evening start, Cueto did not meet with reporters before the game. But Royals manager Matt Quatraro heaped praise in his direction anyway.

“He’s crafty,” Quatraro said. “He’s a guy that’s always trying to disrupt timing with his delivery, his different pitches and his movement. He’s just trying to keep you off-balance.”

Younger Royals were probably learning a lot more about Cueto before game time Wednesday evening.

“If you think about Bobby Witt Jr. or any of the young stars of this team, they were just kids at that point,” Goldberg said. “Now they get a chance to face him. He’s clearly a guy that still loves the game, if he’s still willing to grind in the minor leagues to get here to the big leagues.

“I think one of the beauties of this game, too, is that the trade deadline has a way of making heroes of an organization even if they are only here for a few months. He’s a forever legend.”