Dodgers News: Tony Gonsolin Return Plan Laid Out by Dave Roberts
Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin, on the injured list since late August with a right forearm strain, threw a live batting practice session at Dodger Stadium on Thursday before L.A.’s series finale with the Diamondbacks.
After the session, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts updated the media and gave a peek into the plan for Gonsolin’s return.
Dave Roberts said Tony Gonsolin’s live session went well. Felt Gonsolin wasn’t holding back in any regard. If all goes well, could go bullpen, then a “3-inning” live session.
All that, of course, depends on how Gonsolin feels tomorrow.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) September 22, 2022
The Dodgers have all but given up on the idea of Gonsolin being stretched out to be a full starter in the postseason, but a version of Gonsolin that can go three or four innings would still be extremely valuable to the team in October. L.A. has three solid starters in Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, and Tyler Anderson, and it seems likely they could cobble together a pretty good fourth starter from Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Andrew Heaney.
Gonsolin had jumped into the Cy Young conversation before his injury, going 16-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 23 starts. When he first went down with the injury, he downplayed the severity and the hope was that he’d just miss a couple starts. He was coming up on his career high in innings pitched anyway, so a short break seemed like it might do him some good.
But it’s now been a month since he last pitched in a big-league game, so plans have had to change. Instead of a possible Game 1 postseason starter role, he will be looking to give the Dodgers innings wherever he can.
We’ll know more on Friday, when we find out how he’s feeling the day after. And then, if all goes well, we might get to see him back on the Dodger Stadium mound next week.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!