Why isn’t Johnny Cueto on the SF Giants’ playoff roster?

LOS ANGELES — With 14 years of major league experience and eight lifetime postseason starts under his belt, 35-year-old Johnny Cueto has enjoyed a long and impressive major league career.

As he nears the end of a six-year, $130 million contract he signed with the Giants in December, 2015, Cueto has also dealt with an elbow injury and inconsistent command that ultimately kept him off the team’s NLDS roster.

When right-hander Anthony DeSclafani was lifted in the second inning of a 7-2 Game 4 NLDS loss on Tuesday, many Giants fans wondered why DeSclafani, who posted a 7.33 ERA against the Dodgers this season, was chosen to start instead of Cueto.

When a long list of Giants relievers proved ineffective in a defeat that set up a winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday at Oracle Park, it was easy to see why having a pitcher such as Cueto who could be available in a long relief role could have been valuable for San Francisco.

Instead of pitching meaningful innings for the Giants in their historic NLDS series against the Dodgers, the only activity Cueto participated in this week was taking pregame groundballs at middle infield positions during batting practice.

The Giants’ decision to leave Cueto off their NLDS roster drew understandable criticism from fans on social media, but the team ultimately had priorities beyond postseason experience in building its playoff pitching staff.

With MLB’s current playoff format, teams need no more than four starters during a postseason series. Cueto wasn’t viewed as a top-four option anyway, but the decision to choose DeSclafani ahead of him was made simple for the Giants when Cueto missed more than three weeks with a right elbow strain during September.

The veteran returned to the Giants during the final week of the regular season, but made his first career appearance out of the bullpen as he was not stretched out to throw more than 55-to-60 pitches.

Cueto fared okay over 2 1/3 innings against the Diamondbacks on September 30, but he faced one of the weakest offensive clubs in the majors and didn’t inspire enough confidence in Giants decision-makers for the team to see him as a superior option to rookie Kervin Castro and 25-year-old righty Zack Littell.

Considering how pitchers often struggle upon returning from elbow injuries, it’s also possible even a few members of the team’s taxi squad such as Jay Jackson and José Quintana would have been prioritized ahead of Cueto. Given how the Giants’ bullpen fared in rough showings in Game 2 and Game 4 of the series, it’s fair to wonder whether Cueto, who has pitched in multiple World Series games, should have been included ahead of a less experienced option anyway.

Another option the Giants likely weighed was keeping a 13th pitcher on their 26-man NLDS roster instead of a 14th position player, but most teams structure their rosters with 12 pitchers and 14 position players to maximize their ability to create favorable matchups late in games against opposing bullpens. The Giants have put a premium on gaining platoon advantages since Farhan Zaidi became the team’s president of baseball operations in November, 2018, so San Francisco is unlikely to be a team that keeps an extra pitcher on its staff during playoff series.

If the Giants advance to the NLCS with a victory in a winner-take-all Game 5 on Thursday in San Francisco, the composition of the playoff roster could change, but that might not be good news for Cueto.

Left-hander Tony Watson (shoulder strain) could be ready to return to the roster and pitch in relief while first baseman Brandon Belt (fractured left thumb) may also be available to play near the middle of the series. Teams cannot add players to the roster during a series unless another player must be removed due to injury, so the Giants may elect to keep Belt on their roster ahead of outfielder Alex Dickerson, who has not been viewed as a candidate to start during the NLDS.

If Belt is not included, the Giants may leave Dickerson off their roster in favor of right-handed utility hitter Thairo Estrada. Estrada has better contact skills and the Braves, who advanced to the NLCS Tuesday, have more left-handed relief options than the Dodgers.