I’m going to fight to stay up there,’” he said back in 2019.
More than two years have passed and a lot has changed.
He’s delivered in a variety of roles and a variety of innings, but almost always with the game on the line.
On May 6, 2014, at Comerica Park, he entered in relief in the seventh inning and promptly surrendered singles to Ian Kinsler, Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera.
He actually throws harder than he did in 2013, and his velocity — usually at about 97 or 98 mph — has actually ticked upward at times this year.
Cisnero said he’s been able to consistently approach and sometimes touch 100 mph since returning from his Tommy John surgery.
“I work a lot on my shoulder.
He has used all three pitchers creatively, from the middle innings onward, whenever the Tigers have a lead or the game is on the line.
I know Michael has gotten the majority of recently but I’m just as comfortable with Soto back there, and Cisnero is really the calmest of any of our relievers when it comes to any situation.
For as much as things have changed for Cisnero since the spring of 2019, one thing hasn’t: He’s still grinding for his family.
Unfortunately, none of the kids, nor his wife, nor his mother have been able to get visas to the United States to watch him pitch at Comerica Park.
“My son has started to watch the games,” Cisnero said.
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