Tony Cingrani earned his second save of the season for the Cincinnati Reds in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates last night.
The save for Cingrani should install the 26-year-old left-hander as the primary closer for a Reds’ bullpen off to a historically bad start.
Cingrani was previously denied the chance to claim the closer role when he was yanked after facing one batter in the ninth inning of a game last month.
After Cingrani’s save last night, Reds’ manager Bryan Price is still denying Cingrani the outright recognition as Reds’ closer.
Price insists that Cingrani and the right-handed Ross Ohlendorf will share the closer role based upon match-ups with hitters. The 33-year-old Ohlendorf has an uncloser-like career ERA of 4.86 and a 5.63 ERA this year.
Cingrani is the only left-handed reliever currently on the Reds’ roster. That fact may tempt Price to use Cingrani in the eighth inning of games instead of closer based on match-ups.
Price has struggled to find any reliever who would embrace the closer role after his anointed 2016 closer J.J. Hoover imploded. Hoover was named closer to start the season then proceeded to wrack up a 14.34 ERA with six home runs surrendered in 10.1 innings.
The Reds remain in a position where a closer is essentially unnecessary. That hasn’t changed since the beginning of the season when the outlook for the 2016 Reds wasn’t any rosier than it is now.
Still, the Reds and Price have to breathe just a little easier knowing Cingrani provides at least some closure to the collapse of Hoover and the debacle of the bullpen as a whole.
Cingrani is hardly on easy street. He showed why last night when he proceeded to give up a lead-off double in the ninth then had to rely on a great play by second baseman Brandon Phillips on a grounder with the infield in to avoid blowing the save opportunity.
Cingrani still almost squandered Phillips’ great play when Pirates’ pinch-hitter David Freese drilled a line drive to the center field warning track that was hauled in by Billy Hamilton.
Cingrani lowered his ERA to 2.93 in 17 appearances on the season. Opponents are batting just .208 against Cingrani, but his WHIP is still high at 1.37.
Having a chance to close games by coming into ninth innings clean would help Cingrani offset some of his control and command issues.
For the Reds right now, Cingrani is the best shot the team has for the handful of ninth-inning save situations the team gets.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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