Not forgotten: Cingrani next man up for Reds beleaguered bullpen
CINCINNATI -- Even though he dresses in a far corner of the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse, Tony Cingrani is not part of the Witness Protection Program. And he is not AWOL and he has not had his left arm amputated.
Despite bullpen-wide problems, massive meltdowns, Cingrani has been out of sight but not out of mind for Reds fans who wonder what he did to be placed in a dog house with an empty water dish and ignored.
Cingrani was last seen on a pitching mound 12 days ago and has made only three appearances in the first 17 games.
That is about to change. Cingrani wants work, he is going to get it. Manager Bryan Price is ready to turn loose the 6-4, 210-pounder with the high-rising fastball.
"Tony's time has come," said Price. "He made the team as a long guy, the second lefthander. If I wanted to use a lefty for one hitter or a short outing, I went with Manny Parra.
"We've played a lot of close games so I've been reluctant to use Tony when he might face only a couple of hitters," Price added. "That's what has made it more problematic for me to get him in."
Price, though, is about to change Cingrani's role, based on the low quality relief work by others so far in the bullpen.
"The time has come now that regardless who is coming up, left or right, that Cingrani gets his opportunity. It is his time. He should be provided the opportunity to come in to pitch with some regularity."
Price was bluntly honest about his reasoning and said, "We're not getting the performances we expected from some of the other guys and they'll continue to pitch, but Tony hasn't been given the same opportunity and it is his opportunity, his time has come to be given more opportunity."
Cingrani has been held back because Price always worried he might need him for two, three or four innings, but said Sunday morning, "I can't worry about length any more. I have to worry about who is the best in the late-game situations."
The bullpen was a pigpen last year, one of the worst in the majors, so general manager Walt Jocketty tried to fix it, brining in veterans Kevin Gregg and Burke Badenhop. Unfortunately, the for the Reds, those two have been the worst offenders.
Gregg is 0-and-2 with a 10.29 ERA, giving up eight runs, eight hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings. Badenhop is 0-and-1 with a 10.80 ERA, giving up eight runs, 13 hits and two walks in only 6.2 innings.
Badenhop was brought in because of his propensity for coaxing ground ball double plays, keeping the ball on the ground and out of the air. Over the last six years he induced 53 grounded-into-double plays.
He gave up only one home run in 70 2/3 innings last season for the Boston Red Sox. He has given up two already and Chicage Cubs catcher David Ross missed a grand slam by inches Friday, driving a ball off the wall for a two-run double. That was during a devastating 11th inning when Badenhop was asked to preserve and protect a 3-3 tie in the 11th inning and instead gave up four runs.
"I see a lot of pitches elevated," said Price.
"He is throwing a lot of pitches between the thigh and the belt right now," said Price. "He has definitely been one of the game's better ground-ball pitchers over the last handful of years. We have to find a way to get him back to the bottom of the strike zone instead of a lot of high fastballs and high change-ups that are easier for the hitters to elevate. I don't think he has lost the ability to get ground balls, he is just in the wrong region of the strike zone right now."
And while Badenhop gets fixed and the team tries to put a tourniquet on Gregg, Cingrani suddenly finds himself as a man who might be a bullpen quick fix.
