Reds' Johnny Cueto eyes return after MRI results

An MRI performed on Tuesday confirmed what Johnny Cueto said his gut knew all along — his elbow is fine.

After being scratched from Sunday's start because of soreness in his elbow, Cueto had an MRI on Tuesday and will play catch on Wednesday before it is determined when he will start again.

"I think that certainly, he has to kick the tires on how the elbow feels," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "That may mean he has to play catch today or certainly tomorrow I would believe. As he throws, if he's pain free and the stiffness is out, I think it makes sense that we would follow that with a bullpen. If everything went well with that, we would in turn slot him in the rotation."

Cueto said he didn't expect different news on Tuesday, but was still happy to get the clean bill of health.

"I feel good, I feel good that they take care of me this way," Cueto said, according to Tomas Vera, the team's assistant athletic trainer. "I feel like they care about everything that happens with me. Now that it's nothing and I'm feeling good, all I want to do is get back and feel normal and get back and play."

It was also a relief for Price.

"It is a clean bill of health as far as any type of structural damage," Price said. "He has a little bit of inflammation in his elbow, which is a part of pitching. More than anything, it gives us peace of mind that there's really no major structural damage or injury that would linger or could get worse."

The off days on Thursday and Monday give the Reds flexibility for when Cueto can return to the rotation.

"He still has still go out there and throw and make sure the stiffness and soreness is out before we can schedule a bullpen and in turn, schedule his next start," Price said. "It will be at least a couple of days before we know more and when we'll see him back in rotation."

Mike Leake will start for the Reds in Wednesday's series finale with the Rockies, but the team hasn't announced any starters after that. The Reds have a three-game series against the Nationals starting on Friday, and then travel to Philadelphia for a three-game series starting next Tuesday.

"Until we know with Johnny, until we know that we can slot him back into the rotation, it's really hard to make a commitment to who those five guys will be," Price said of his rotation. "You know, we've talked about the challenges of how to meter out the innings for (Raisel) Iglesias and (Michael) Lorenzen over the course of the season. Those are a a couple of challenges we'll face over the duration of the season, not just the current situation we're in."