SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Francisco Giants right-hander Johnny Cueto was placed on the disabled list Monday with a sprained right elbow, and manager Bruce Bochy said there’s a “strong possibility” he will need reconstructive surgery.
The issue with Cueto, who has been limited to nine starts this year, has “been lingering quite a while,” Bochy said before the Giants opened a two-game series against the Padres. “We battled it, we fought this elbow issue, had it looked at, it’s just not going away. If that’s the case, where he does have surgery, Tommy John, then I’m sure he’d like to get that behind him. Again, I hate to talk about that because that has not officially been determined yet.”
The 32-year-old Cueto is 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA. He was on the 60-day DL earlier this year with the elbow injury.
The Giants also placed infielder Pablo Sandoval on the DL with a strained right hamstring. Sandoval had an MRI exam and doctors in San Francisco were still reading it Monday afternoon to determine the degree, Bochy said.
Sandoval is hitting .248 with nine homers and 40 RBIs.
To take their roster spots, the Giants recalled infielder Kelby Tomlinson from Triple-A Sacramento and reinstated infielder Joe Panik from the disabled list.
Bochy said right-hander Chris Stratton probably will step into Cueto’s spot in the rotation, although it hasn’t been determined which day he will pitch.
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