Tony Cingrani: Thoughts?

[mth123]

Originally Posted by Superdude

I wanna see how his fastball plays against some better hitters. mth mentioned the gun readings being fairly pedestrian, but the Astros couldn't seem to touch his fastball. It'll be interesting to see if he is truly that deceptive or the Astros are just bad at hitting baseballs.

My biggest concern with the fastball was that after only 1 inning, the 80s started showing up and the 93s and 94s were history. If he's going to start, I hope it holds up better than that.

Its the end of a long season. He may be on a pretty low tank at this point.

[lollipopcurve]

Pretty sure he'll make the playoff roster as a second lefty out of the pen. Fastball is excellent -- deceptive and he spots it well. As they say, a well-located fastball is the best pitch in the game. Once he refines that changeup a little and figures out where to throw a show-me slider every now and then, he's good to go as a starter in the bigs. At the very least, he'll be an effective late-inning reliever. He looked loose and unafraid, another plus.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Superdude

I wanna see how his fastball plays against some better hitters. mth mentioned the gun readings being fairly pedestrian, but the Astros couldn't seem to touch his fastball. It'll be interesting to see if he is truly that deceptive or the Astros are just bad at hitting baseballs.

He is an 89-91 MPH guy as a starter. Touches a tad bit higher than that, though not too often.

With that said, he can pinpoint his fastball where he wants and he can get some really good movement on it as well as it being very deceptive because of his mechanics. It isn't overly fast, but it is a really good pitch.

[OldRightHander]

I was there today and I liked what I saw, which was a smooth delivery that I think bodes well for his future, especially after he improves his other pitches. He didn't have that delivery that left me thinking there's an injury just waiting to happen. I've been wrong before on that count, but that was just my first impression.

[fearofpopvol1]

If they keep Chapman in the pen, which I hope they don't, but maybe he can replace Arroyo in 2014?

[vic715]

Originally Posted by fearofpopvol1

If they keep Chapman in the pen, which I hope they don't, but maybe he can replace Arroyo in 2013?

Why would you want to replace Arroyo next year?

[fearofpopvol1]

Originally Posted by vic715

Why would you want to replace Arroyo next year?

typo, i meant 2014, when his contract is up.

[Vottomatic]

If Cingrani could compete to a tune of a 4.50 or less e.r.a. in the Bigs, he's a cheaper option than Bailey. But I'm thinking he spends a full year in triple A next season honing his secondary pitches. He and Corcino.

[RANDY IN INDY]

Cingrani's mechanics are much like my son's. Nice easy and flowing with a deceptive moving fastball. Matt, my son, has a little higher leg kick and is a little more over the top than Cingrani. You never know with lefties. They sometimes develop a little later and there is always a high demand. I liked what I saw in Cingrani, but he is probably still at least a season away.

[The Operator]

Originally Posted by Superdude

It'll be interesting to see if he is truly that deceptive or the Astros are just bad at hitting baseballs.

They certainly didn't have any trouble hitting Cueto, and he was throwing 92-95 most of his outing.

From where I was sitting it's hard to get too much of a feel for his breaking stuff but his fastball had some decent life on it, and for a lefty his velocity should be fine, IMO.

[klw]

Greg Maddux worked with a 89-90 mph fastball in his prime so a fastball does not need to be 100 to be a weapon if you can control it and you have the other tools to keep a batter off balance. It sounds as if Cingrani has the control with the FB but is lacking in the other areas at this point. Arroyo is another example of someone who can be successful at 89 mph. Hopefully Cingrani can develop the other pitches to be successful at the MLB level.