Dodgers Team News

The Dodgers Could Be Without Tony Cingrani For A While

It has been quite some time since the Dodgers have gotten a productive outing from Tony Cingrani. And it looks like the team will have to keep waiting on that opportunity. Cingrani was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left shoulder discomfort almost two weeks ago. He was supposed to be ready for this past series with the Cubs, but it seems he will be out much longer.

Cingrani was on track to make a return from the shoulder injury, but that has been temporarily derailed. Cingrani was not exactly lighting hitters up even when he was healthy this season though. So far in 28 appearances, he has pitched to a 4.84 earned run average despite owning a decent WHIP of 1.03.

Cingrani went down earlier in the year with what was described as “dead arm”, something you never want to hear from a pitcher. He worked out of that one and looked to be coming back plenty strong. Cingrani had a string out eight consecutive appearances without allowing a run prior to being pulled with this latest injury on June 6th. That translated to eight scoreless innings without a run.

The Dodgers bullpen has had question marks surrounding them all year long. Kenley Jansen, Scott Alexander, Daniel Hudson, Pedro Baez, and Yimi Garcia have all had to work through mechanical issues to bounce back from rough starts. Surprisingly, the Dodgers bullpen ranks 7th in the National League for era. The issue though has been their workload. They are the second most worked bullpen in the NL this year.

Analysis

Most members of the bullpen have made a change for the positive this season, but that may not be enough. It seems unlikely that the Dodgers will be playing in October with Daniel Hudson as a relief option for them. The good news is that help is on the way. The Dodgers may have an excess of starters within the next two months returning from injuries. It is likely that the bullpen will get one or two pieces from that exxcess. Let’s just hope that Cingrani’s injury is not too serious.

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