Dodgers Interview: Stone breaks down his “awesome” return
CAMELBACK RANCH, AZ– Gavin Stone’s spring debut was one of the best moments of the afternoon at Camelback Ranch. It had been a full year of rehab work after shoulder surgery wiped out his 2025 season, so getting back into a real game mattered. Stone gave the Dodgers a perfect inning against Cleveland with a flyout and two strikeouts, and his postgame comments carried that mix of relief, focus, and competitiveness you want to hear from a guy fighting his way back. He was happy to be out there, proud of the work, and already talking about recovery, results, and making the team.
“Yeah, it was awesome,” Stone said about returning to game action. “Definitely a lot of hard work over the previous year. Rehab was a grind, but it’s good to get back out there.”
He said the rehab process centered on getting the shoulder right and building everything back up the right way. “I didn’t bulk up as much as Riv,” he said with a smile, comparing himself to River Ryan. “Just trying to keep my shoulder healthy and focusing on that and getting the mobility back, the strength back. We have great trainers, so they do a great job.”
Stone also gave a very real answer about what comes next after a clean outing. The inning felt great, but he made it clear that the recovery process is where he still feels the challenge. “Oh, yeah,” he said when asked whether tomorrow might be the bigger test. “The recovering part of it has been the hardest, especially going through spring training. The days that I’ve thrown lives, bullpens, today felt great, but the recovery part is still a grind. So I will be sore for sure, but I think it’ll be a good soreness.”
His changeup looked sharp right away, and Stone talked about it like a pitcher talking about his identity. “That’s my bread and butter,” he said. “So if I don’t have that, I’m screwed. But it was the easiest pitch on my shoulder to throw last year. It never really hurt, so I got to practice it a lot. Just getting feel back for it and seeing the results today is very uplifting.”
Asked what he wants to see as he keeps ramping up this spring, Stone kept it simple. “Outs. Yeah, just getting outs for the club. If we do that, then we have a great chance to win the game. So, just getting outs for the guys.”
He also said the diagnosis last year caught him off guard. “Arizona was my last outing and felt pretty good. It would get tired in between innings, but it felt good. I never really considered that it would be as bad as it was. Then whenever I got the MRI back, it was kind of a shock. But [Dr. Neil] ElAttrache does a great job. Very thankful for all of that.”
And when the question turned to what version of Gavin Stone he expects to be, he answered it directly. “Oh, yeah. That’s the goal, getting back to that mold of myself, and I feel like today was a great start.”
He added that the pitch mix feels good overall, with one area still building back into full shape. “Good. Command’s good. Slider’s working, working on the slider, getting the command back with that. Changeup feels great. Everything feels good right now. Just the recovering part of it is the grind.”
Then he finished with exactly the kind of spring goal you want from a starter in his spot. “Oh, yeah. For me, my goal is making the team out of camp. So doing whatever I can to make that happen.”
That was one inning in February, but it checked a lot of boxes. Stone got back on the mound, looked crisp, trusted his best pitch, and sounded fully locked in on the next step. For the Dodgers, that is a very good day.
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