After almost a 2 year absence, Anthony DeSclafani is gaining momentum

After almost 2 years on the disabled list, Anthony DeSclafani returned to the Reds last week. His most recent start showed he’s trending up.

Anthony DeSclafani hadn’t thrown a baseball in a Major League game since September 28, 2016. He finally took the mound last week against the Colorado Rockies. He went 5 innings, struck out 5 batters, allowed 6 hits and 4 runs. Sunday’s start against St. Louis showed flashes of what may be on the horizon for “Disco”.

At the start of the 2016 season, DeSclafani was on the disabled list. However, once he returned in June, he was on top of his game. During the first 11 games he pitched of that season, DeSclafani had a 6-0 record with a 2.94 ERA.

He struck out 5.27 batters and walked only 1.45 per game. DeSclafani went at least 6 innings deep in all but 2 of those first 11 starts. The Reds were 7-4 in those games.

Over the final 9 games of 2016, DeSclafani slipped a bit, but still pitched well. He went 3-5 with a 3.70 ERA. His strikeout to walk ratio stayed about the same, and went at least 6 innings in 7 of the 9 games.

Unfortunately, DeSclafani suffered elbow tendinitis and a UCL injury in 2017 that kept him on the disabled list for the entirety of the 2017 season.

DeSclafani made his 2018 debut on Tuesday against the Rockies, and got his first win of the season Sunday against the Cardinals. “Disco” went 5 innings and had 6 strikeouts.

DeSclafani did allow 10 hits, which isn’t good. But, he worked out of a few jams, had great defense playing behind him (especially Billy Hamilton), and escaped with the win. Knowing the adversity he’s faced, that’s not too bad.

DeSclafani, admittedly, didn’t throw his curveball a lot during Sunday’s game against St. Louis. If he’s able to regain good control of his curveball to go along with his slider, he’ll be able to do some damage against opposing hitters.

Anthony DeSclafani lowered his ERA every year that he’s been in the major leagues. If he’s able to continue to put together solid outings like he did on Sunday, he has the potential to be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.