In addition to the Los Angeles Dodgers incurring multiple injuries in their starting rotation, they also lost Tony Cingrani to his recurring left shoulder trouble.
After making strong contributions for the Dodgers in 2017, inflammation limited him to just 30 appearances last season. He reported for Spring Training in good health and showing signs of moving on from the injury trouble.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was among those optimistic over Cingrani’s early results. With Cingrani again on the mend, he did not break camp with the team and appears to be facing a long road to recovery, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
Lefty reliever Tony Cingrani was shut down 10 days ago with a recurring shoulder problem and received a cortisone injection. He will remain behind in Arizona and should be cleared to start a throwing program at some point next week, Roberts said.
“I just think we’ve really got to take our time with this one,” Roberts said.
As a result of the inflammation, Cingrani will join Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill in beginning the season on the 10-day injured list. He allowed three hits, walked two and collected three strikeouts over four scoreless innings this spring.
Signs of trouble were evident when Cingrani’s velocity began to dip. His injury created a domino effect and one that intertwined the starting rotation because of Kershaw and Hill also going down.
Julio Urias was among the candidates being considered to replace Cingrani but he’s since been moved into the rotation. Roberts has all but set his bullpen, with a long relief option needed to complete the puzzle with Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro, Yimi Garcia, Kenley Jansen and Joe Kelly.
