Manager Bruce Bochy said last week that Cueto (elbow) is tentatively being penciled in to return from the 60-day injured list around Sept. 8, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Cueto reached the final phase of his recovery from Tommy John surgery earlier this month, when he kicked off a minor-league rehab assignment. After two turns with the Giants' rookie-level Arizona League affiliate followed by two starts with High-A San Jose, Cueto is now in line to pitch twice for Triple-A Sacramento before being reinstated. Cueto was roughed up for five runs (four earned) over 4.1 innings in his final outing for San Jose, but reported no concerns with his elbow while bumping up his pitch count to 60. He'll presumably work longer in his upcoming two turns with Sacramento as he looks to prove that he's ready to handle a starter's workload with the big club.