Tony Cingrani struck out 80 of the 191 batters (41.9%) he faced in the Rookie-level Pioneer League last season. The achievement was mitigated considerably by the fact that the left-hander was a 21-year-old, four-year college draftee facing (in most cases) considerably younger talent. Still, it was a promising professional debut.
Cingrani began this season at High-A Bakersfield. A college pitcher, one with designs on a major-league career, should also have no little success here — a statement which requires the qualifcation that, this being the California League, “success” is somewhat relative, given the circuit’s decidedly robust run environment. In point of fact, Cingrani’s success was absolute: he struck out 71 of 220 batters faced (32.3%) while walking only 13 (or, 5.9%), leading to a 1.84 FIP and 1.11 ERA. He also posted the top regressed pitching line of all California League starters.
Cingrani’s dominance earned him a mid-season promotion to Double-A Pensacola, where he continued to succeed, recording the second-highest regressed strikeout mark and overall line among starters — behind only Trevor Bauer (taken 111 picks ahead of Cingrani in 2011) in both cases.
Recognizing that he might of some use to their stretch-run, the Reds promoted Cingrani at the beginning of September. So far, he’s made two relief appearances, and the results, on a per-batter basis, have been quite similar to those from his various minor-league campaigns: of the 17 opponents he’s faced, Cingrani has struck out eight of them (47.1%).
Of note is this maybe trivial, maybe entirely prescient observation: despite his early success, Cingrani has induced swinging strikes on his fastball alone so far — even while sitting at a very average 91 mph with the pitch.
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