Cincinnati Reds’ Sam LeCure lauded for impressive outing in Game 1 of NLDS – MLB News
Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker on Sunday, October 7, lauded Sam LeCure for his exceptionally effective pitching after he replaced Johnny Cueto in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
Johnny Cueto had to make an early exit due to back spasms, prompting the Reds to bring in an appropriate substitute. Sam LeCure proved to be a wonderful choice for Dusty Baker.
Coming as an emergency relief pitcher, he threw just over one scoreless inning to provide a solid start to the Cincinnati Reds.
"This guy has done everything for us," Reds' manager Dusty Baker said on Sunday. "He's gone long. He's gone middle. He's gone short. He wants the ball. He'll very rarely tell you no. You have to monitor him. He's gotten some very big outs for us. You feel as comfortable bringing him in with the bases loaded as you do with anybody on the team."
As LeCure kept the San Francisco Giants batters at bay – providing a solid base to the team, Mat Latos came in to pitch four innings, allowing only a run.
However, LeCure’s performance was key at a time when Cueto’s game was cut short. Given the effectiveness, power and experience that Cueto brings in the rotation, LeCure had to put in tremendous efforts to hold the Giants' batters.
He succeeded in that. Other than that, LeCure appeared in 48 games in the regular season, pitching a total of 57.1 innings with 3.14 ERA as he maintained 3-3 record with 61 strike-outs to his credit. In Baker’s view, LeCure has been great all this while.
"He's going to throw strikes," Baker said. "He'll get righties out as well as lefties. He gets lefties out actually better than righties. His ball has a lot of movement. He's been great."
With the remaining games in the National League Division Series, Sam LeCure will remain a strong choice for the club in the bullpen. Now that he has established his ascendancy as emergency relief pitcher, the Cincinnati Reds will definitely rely more on him in the future if such a situation arises again.
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