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33 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP PLAY BALL THE GIANTS yearsandhasplanstotrackhim down again soon. When we called Tiant this sprin g, he s til l ha d p lent y o f advice to pass along to the Giants' pricey new addition. Tiant's continued admiration for Cueto's twisting delivery could make for a compelling saga — "As the Whirled Turns." "I think he's going to have a good year there in San Francisco," Tiant said. "Hopefully, he wins 20 games for them. I know he can." THEGIANTSSIGNEDCUETO to a six-year, $130million free- agent contract in December in hopes of re-establishing a cham- pionship-caliber rotation just in time for an even year. Cueto, 30, throws a low-90 mph fastball, a cutter, a slider, a change-up and the occasional cur - veball, according to PITCHf/x. The repertoire has served him well. Cueto has a 3.30 career ERA. Among active players with at least 1,000 career innings, the only pitchers better are Clayton Kershaw (2.43), Adam Wainwright (2.98), Madison Bumgarner (3.04), David Price (3.09) and Felix Her - nandez (3.11). Cueto's final start last season was a beauty — a 7-1 triumph over the New York Mets in Game 2 of the World Series. It was the first complete game by an AL pitcher in the Fall Classic since Jack Mor - ris in 1991. Before that, Cueto was mostly a disappointment for the Kansas City Royals. After they acquired him in a trade-deadline deal, opponents hammered him for a 4.76 ERA, and he struck out only 56 batters in 81.1 innings. Royals manager Ned Yost, when asked this spring to reflect on Cueto's slump, said there was a simple fix all along. They discov - ered the glitch just in time: Catch- er Salvador Perez was providing too high a target. "Johnny his whole career was used to throwing to a very low target. And Salvy is a huge JohnnyCueto, pictured pitching for the Royals in the 2015 World Series, employs an exaggerated, twisted delivery, much like that of Red Sox legend Luis Tiant. Tiant, pictured pitching against the A's in 1979, says Cueto "can do it every pitch. ... The more he does it, the better control he'll have, and I think he's going to fool the hitter more."