Johnny Cueto won't have elbow surgery, expected out 6-8 weeks

PHILADELPHIA -- San Francisco pitcher Johnny Cueto will be sidelined for six to eight weeks because of a strained right elbow and will not have Tommy John surgery.

Cueto, 32, was examined by Dr. James Andrews on Monday in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Andrews told him that surgery was not necessary and recommended that he rest for six to eight weeks.

"It is great news," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I was hoping for the best and hoping he would not need surgery."

Cueto, who went on the 10-day disabled list last Tuesday, is 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA in five starts. He also missed two starts after spraining his left ankle in early April.

"It was really incredible how well he was throwing the ball with this elbow soreness that he's been dealing with," Bochy said. "There's been nobody in baseball throwing the ball better than him. So, it says a lot about his toughness."

The Giants enter Monday in third place in the NL West with a 19-15 record despite the absence of Cueto and staff ace Madison Bumgarner, who has not pitched this season after suffering a fractured pitching hand in spring training.

San Francisco hoped Cueto had overcome the blister and forearm issues that caused him to miss six weeks last year, when he went 8-8 with a 4.52 ERA in 25 starts.

Cueto was 18-5 with a 2.79 ERA in 2016, when he made his second All-Star team. He is in the third year of a six-year, $130 million deal with the Giants.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.