The last two years have been difficult for Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Tony Cingrani as midway through the 2018 season he went down with a shoulder injury and has never quite been able to recover.
He reported to Spring Training this year healthy, but after a few Cactus League outings his shoulder began to hamper him once again. As a result, Cingrani was forced to begin the season on the 10-day injured list.
Although it’s been another prolonged absence, Cingrani is making progress after spending the last month at the team’s Spring Training facility in Arizona. He joined High-A Rancho Cucamonga for a rehab assignment and made his season debut on Saturday night.
In the Quakes’ 7-3 victory over the San Jose Giants, Cingrani entered in the seventh inning and made quick work of his opponents, getting two groundouts and a strikeout while only allowing a runner to reach base on an error by second baseman Connor Wong.
That is obviously a positive start to Cingrani’s rehab assignment, which will likely require at least a week’s worth of outings before he is ready to be activated from the injured list, barring any setbacks.
So far to this point in the season, the Dodgers’ bullpen has been their biggest weakness, ranking 21st in baseball with a 4.54 ERA.
Cingrani had success after the Dodgers traded for him in the second half of the 2017 season. So if he can get back to that level then he would be an excellent addition to a struggling unit.
