Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – To hear Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Mark Riggins tell it, left-hander Tony Cingrani put in some back-breaking work to find an effective breaking ball over the winter. To hear it from Cingrani, it’s been much longer than that.

“Over the winter? It’s been four years,” Cingrani said. “It’s taken a while.”

Those four years have been pretty eventful for Cingrani. He broke out in 2013, spending much of the year in the rotation and posting a 2.92 ERA. He scuffled a year later and ended up in Triple-A, where a shoulder injury ended his season before he even threw a pitch in the minors.

More shoulder problems halted what was shaping up to be a nice 2015 season out of the bullpen. He landed back in Triple-A as a starter once he was healthy, only to struggle again upon returning to the majors in September.

That shuttling back and forth between starting and relieving dates back to his college days at Rice, and Cingrani’s pretty over it. Toward the end of last season he asked to remain in the bullpen in order to have some predictability.

He knew he wouldn’t be in the rotation anyway, but he thinks it’ll be easier to stay consistent mechanically if he’s throwing more often. He also feels he’ll remain a lot healthier if he’s throwing fewer pitches.

“Just probably the next two years I’d rather be in the pen and then maybe try starting,” Cingrani said. “But, it kills you. Starting’s hard.”

No matter where he is, he’ll need a second pitch to pair with his funky fastball. Finding one has been a Sisyphean ordeal throughout Cingrani’s career.

He’s tried a slider, he’s tried a curve and he’s tried a cutter. None of them have been particularly effective. He also fooled around with a change-up that never got much traction.

“I don’t even care to throw that,” Cingrani said of the change. “Working on a change-up and a slider and they both suck, it’s kind of pointless.”

The lack of a breaking ball is a big reason why Cingrani has struggled with reverse platoon splits. Usually left-handed pitchers fare better against same-handed hitters, but Cingrani did the opposite before his injury last year. He locked down righties for a .170 average, but lefty batters had a .910 OPS when facing him.

Cingrani’s fastball naturally runs up and in on a left-handed batter, and without a good breaking ball it’s tough to show the hitter something on the outside of the plate.

“When a lefty gets in there, we have to go across our body a little bit more,” Riggins said. “With his arm swing where his slot is, it’s a little tougher for him to get to that outside part.”

The 26-year-old finally thinks he’s hit upon something that will work. Working with Riggins, Cingrani has tightened his arm slot, bringing it closer to his head. Riggins likes the shape the alteration has given to Cingrani’s slurve, although the next step is being able to throw it for strikes.

“I’m obviously not going to throw it 3-2 right now,” Cingrani said. “But it’s coming.”

The way Cingrani sees it, only anointed closer J.J. Hoover and hard-throwing right-hander Jumbo Diaz have a foothold on bullpen spots. Cingrani has plenty of big-league experience – certainly more than Diaz – but also can be assigned to the minors. Because he was injured so much of the 2014 season, the Reds were awarded a fourth option year on him.

That puts a premium on performance this spring, and so far Cingrani has three scoreless Cactus League appearances. He’s happy with his situation.

“Right now, I like the pen,” Cingrani said. “There’s opportunity since (Aroldis) Chapman’s gone. I think Hoov and Jumbo have the leg up on being a closer, but I want to be in that mix.”