Steve Webb
MIAMI, FL — Ugh. In another body blow to the starting rotation, it was announced on Monday that instead of making his scheduled start against the Marlins, right-hander Tony Gonsolin would instead be going to the 15-day Injured List. Citing what was called “forearm tightness,” the Dodgers’ scratched Gonsolin from the start, replacing him, at least temporarily, with prospect Michael Grove.
“It just felt kind of tight coming out of the last outing,” Gonsolin told the media before Monday’s game. “I dealt with this earlier in the year. I thought it was going to go away after a couple of days, but it just sort of lingered.”
When asked how long he’d be out, Manager Dave Roberts expressed confidence that it would only be “a start or two,” but given the fact that the IL is a minimum fifteen days for pitchers, this year, three starts including Monday is a more likely scenario. The IL stint was backdated to August 26, so that gives them a couple of extra days to play with if the recovery goes well. That would put activation sometime during the weekend series in San Diego, which begins on September 9.
Gonsolin echoed his manager’s confidence. “Whenever the IL stint is over, I feel like I’ll be 100 % and ready to go,” the Dodgers’ ace said in the same interview.
As the year progressed, Gonsolin had been dogged by questions of whether or not, the pitcher would be able to handle the load of an entire season of starts, something he’s not done before. Going into 2022, Gonsolin’s previous high of innings pitched was a paltry 55.2 in 2021. He blew by that number early in the season, and now sits at 128.1 innings total for 2022. He said that this current strain may or may not have anything to do with the increased workload, but felt that the wise course at this point of the season was to shut things down for a few days.
Gonsolin said that on Sunday, he had been playing catch with pitching coach Mark Prior, and he was really airing it out, but that the pain wasn’t subsiding. So after consultation with Prior and the training staff, they decided that the IL was the move to make.
“It does kind of suck,” Gonsolin acknowledged, “but in a way it can be a blessing in that it gives me a little break and then… playoffs.”
Get well quick, Tony. We’ll hold down the fort while til you’re back!
