If Cueto passes checkup, ace to start rehab stint

ST. LOUIS -- Reds ace Johnny Cueto, currently on the 15-day disabled list for a strained right lat muscle, was scheduled to head back to Cincinnati for a medical checkup. Assuming all goes well as expected, he will head out on a Minor League rehab assignment.

Cueto is scheduled to start on Friday for Double-A Pensacola in a home game against Montgomery. Next Wednesday, he will start for Class A Dayton at home vs. Lansing.

"He'll be happy wherever he's going," Reds manager Dusty Baker said on Wednesday. "He's champing at the bit. He looked pretty good [in his bullpen session]. He didn't have any soreness afterwards."

Cueto threw a 45-pitch bullpen session on Monday -- his second time pitching off the mound since going on the DL on April 15. Right now, he's expected to get just the two rehab outings, but there's always a chance for more.

"That's what we're thinking initially," Baker said. "It's not etched in stone. We'll see how he comes out of it."