Every Major League Baseball team has a left-handed reliever who specializes in getting left-handed hitters out, and for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, that was Tony Cingrani.
Southpaws hit just .200 against him, but unfortunately, Cingrani was forced to deal with a shoulder injury that kept him out for almost the entire second half of the season.
Because of that, the Dodgers needed to acquire another lefty specialist, and they did so by claiming 30-year-old Zac Rosscup off waivers from the Colorado Rockies.
Rosscup ended up pitching in 17 games for the Dodgers in the second half of the season, posting a 4.76 ERA, 4.13 FIP and 1.15 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and four walks in 11.1 innings. He did exactly what the club needed him to do, and that was retire lefties as they hit just .143 against him.
Like Cingrani, Rosscup also dealt with some injuries throughout the course of the season, so he only pitched in 10 Minor League innings between the Dodgers and Rockies organizations in addition to his Major League service with the Dodgers.
In those Minor League outings, Rosscup had an impressive 0.90 ERA, 0.80 WHIP with 11 strikeouts and four walks across 12 games.
Some consideration went into Rosscup making the Dodgers’ postseason roster, but with other lefties like Scott Alexander, Caleb Ferguson, Julio Urias and Alex Wood all in the mix, they decided to leave him off.
2018 Highlight:
Rosscup’s biggest highlight went unnoticed by many as it came in a 12-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 19. He closed out the victory and made quick work of the Mariners by striking out the side on nine pitches, which is known as an immaculate inning.
Only 87 pitchers in the history of the sport have accomplished the feat, and only four did so in 2018, so Rosscup will be etched into history forever.
2019 Outlook:
Rosscup was recently designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for prospects the Dodgers wanted to keep out of the Rule 5 Draft. He went unclaimed on waivers and was later released from the organization, so he is now a free agent looking for a place to pitch in 2019.
