When Tony Cingrani was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, most folks who follow the team knew almost nothing about him. In fact, given that he was acquired on the same day as Yu Darvish and Tony Watson, most folks probably didn’t even realize he was a Dodger for a couple of days.
But oh boy would that change. After coming over from the Cincinnati Reds, Cingrani was fantastic for the Dodgers — posting a 2.79 ERA and 1.86 FIP over 22 appearances, while posting a K/9 of 13.03. When the calendar moved to October, that success continued as he posted a 1.80 ERA in seven playoff appearances.
Along with Watson, Cingrani was a key player in solidifying the Dodger bullpen — which turned into a massive strength for most of the postseason. And as if the trade wasn’t good enough already, the Dodgers get two more years of Cingrani before he is eligible for free agency.
Overall in 2017 with the Dodgers and Reds, Cingrani yielded a 4.22 ERA, 4.68 FIP and 1.22 WHIP while striking out 52 compared to just 12 walks in 42.2 innings across 47 appearances.
His 2.79 ERA with Los Angeles was significantly lower than the 5.40 ERA he posted with Cincinnati before being traded, so the Dodgers staff may have figured something out with Cingrani that led to his late-season success.
2017 Highlight
In the month of September, Cingrani posted an ERA of 0.90 in 12 appearances — striking out 14 batters while allowing just one earned run in 10 innings of work. Over that month, Cingrani lowered his season ERA by a full run and proved to Dodger fans that he could be a reliable left-handed specialist in the postseason.
2018 Outlook
As mentioned above, the good news with Cingrani is that he’s under team control for two more seasons — years in which he figures to play a big role in the Dodger bullpen. As a hard-throwing left-hander, Cingrani figures to slot in as either the first or second lefty out of the bullpen alongside Luis Avilan.
