Dodgers Agree To Contract With Tony Cingrani

Tony Cingrani will factor into the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers’ plans. On Friday, he agreed to a one-year, $2.65 million dollar contract fully guaranteed. The details of this were first reported by Ken Rosenthal on twitter.

#Dodgers agree with LHP Tony Cingrani on one-year, $2.65 contract, fully guaranteed, source tells The Athletic. Most arbitration deals are not guaranteed.

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— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 30, 2018

Friday afternoon represented the deadline for teams in baseball to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. The Dodgers and Cingrani effectively avoided the arbitration process by coming to the one-year, guaranteed pact. As Rosenthal’s tweet notes – most arbitration deals are not of the guaranteed variety.

Cingrani enters his age-29 season coming off a 2018 with a 4.76 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 36 strikeouts over 22.2 innings pitched. His shortage of innings was due to missing significant time due to injury. Shoulder problems shelved him for a decent time period beginning in June; and he faced just four batters late in the season following that injury.

Still, this move signals that the Dodgers view Cingrani as a valuable asset moving forward, especially facing left-handed batters. His high velocity stuff plays up in a situation where a strikeout is needed rather than a ball in play. This is evidenced by his K/9 rate.

Moreover, Cingrani can be more effective in 2019 in regards to his pitch quality. The following data comes from MLB Quality of Pitch (@qopbaseball) on twitter:

#Dodgers Tony Cingrani 2018 Pitch Quality

3.35 QOPA (Bottom 4% MLB)

Location (Bottom 6% MLB)
Vertical Break (Bottom 8% MLB)
Horizontal Break (Bottom 16% MLB) pic.twitter.com/5WQoEREIHC

— MLB Quality of Pitch (@qopbaseball) November 30, 2018

One can expect an improvement in these values with a restoration of Cingrani’s health.