The San Francisco Giants delivered some awful news on Wednesday, as starting pitcher Johnny Cueto will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2018 season.

As Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports pointed out, Cueto will also miss all of 2019 and won't be returning to the team until 2020, when he'll be 34 years of age. The two-time All-Star was 3-2 in nine starts this season, posting a 3.23 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched.

Entering play on Thursday, the Giants are fourth in the NL East with a 55-54 record. Ace pitcher Madison Bumgar missed several weeks after suffering a fractured hand in March. Fellow pitcher Jeff Samardzija has also battled a shoulder injury and has only started 10 games this season. In short, the Giants rotation has been hit with nothing more than bad luck.

In losing Cueto, the Giants see their playoff hopes dash significantly. The non-waiver trade deadline has passed, so they can give up on trying to add more depth in the rotation. San Francisco sits five games out of first in the division, and five out of the second wild card spot in the National League.

The Giants have a core full of ageing players who haven't performed up to their usual standards, including Andrew McCutchen, Evan Longoria and Hunter Pence. Now, the Giants have to try and put together some wins with a banged-up rotation.

San Francisco has made the postseason in every even year since 2010. Of course, they won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, while reaching the 2016 NLDS. But unless they can turn it around soon, this team will miss the postseason in an even year for the first time since 2008.

As for Cueto, he'll simply have to be patient, recover well and hope to bounce back when he can return in two years' time. But he'll be 34 years of age in 2020 and won't have pitched in two years, so he faces a quite a steep climb.

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