Whenever you hear or read the words “surgery,” “pitching shoulder,” and “labrum” in the same sentence about a baseball player, at any level, you know that the news is not good. And for a pitcher, the news is even more devastating.

As surgical and rehabilitation procedures have improved over the years, there have been recent successes, with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Julio Urias being two of the more well known examples. But returning a major league pitcher’s shoulder back to full strength is a lengthy process that requires the best of care, extremely close monitoring, and 100 percent commitment by the player towards his recovery.

News about Tony Cingrani’s left shoulder labrum surgery this past week has been sparse and, for the most part, gone completely under the radar. In a nut shell, he had surgery on Monday, June 10 and will miss the remainder of the 2019 season. In fact, it would not be surprising if he is not ready to pitch competitively again until late 2020, if then; a terrible blow for the 29-year-old Evergreen, IL native and third-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds in 2011 out of Rice University.

Cingrani becomes a free agent after the 2019 World Series and a healthy, left-handed pitcher with tremendous talent would be in-line for a multi-year contract that could potentially guarantee him tens of millions dollars. Now, he may be looking at a split minor league / major league contract loaded with incentives based on games played and / or innings pitched.

I still remember the fist time I watched Cingrani pitch against the Dodgers, a televised game in 2013, when he was a 24-year-old rookie starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. He absolutely dominated Dodgers hitters with an overpowering fastball and crisp breaking pitches, striking out eleven batters and allowing only one hit in seven innings. Although he later struggled with command and was eventually (and permanently) moved to the bullpen, there was always the hope that he would someday pitch for the Dodgers. When the Dodgers acquired Cingrani just before the trading deadline in 2017, it was a dream come true for me, with the anticipation that the team’s pitching coaches would rekindle his talent and career.

With the Dodgers history of ‘fixing’ broken pitchers, perhaps an arrangement can be reached whereby Cingrani remains with the team during his rehabilitation and beyond. Heaven knows, the Dodgers bullpen can always use a pitcher with his talent.

Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery Tony!

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