The Dodgers plan to welcome back All-Star Tony Gonsolin soon, as noted by Jack Harris of the LA Times. Manager Dave Roberts relayed information to reporters earlier today, stating that Gonsolin’s most recent rehab start “went really well,” and that the Dodgers aim to have Gonsolin start Monday’s game against the Rockies, pitching around 3 innings, and hope to have him stretched out to 4 innings in time for the NLDS.
Before being placed on the injured list in late August, Gonsolin was pitching a fantastic season and likely would have been a serious Cy Young contender. In his first full season starting, Gonsolin has pitched to a 2.49 ERA, 23.7 K%, 7.2 BB% in 128 1/3 innings (23 starts) en route to his first All-Star appearance.
Elsewhere on the Dodgers:
- Reliever Blake Treinen, who has missed most of the 2022 season, is still progressing in his return from shoulder tightness since being placed on the injured list, retroactive to September 7th. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported that Treinen played catch yesterday, and, while it went fine, Treinen’s ability to come back this year will depend on how his shoulder responds in the next few days. Limited to just 5 innings this season, Treinen was dominant last season, working to a 1.99 ERA in 72 1/3 innings with a 29.7% strikeout rate. With Craig Kimbrel having lost the closing job in Los Angeles, the late-season addition of Treinen, if he’s able to make it back, may help the Dodgers plan their postseason roster
- As Dustin May works to return from lower back tightness that forced his placement on the 15-day IL on September 24th, the flamethrowing righty said that he’s “completely confident” that he will be healthy for the NLDS, per Harris. May said he is progressing in his rehab, but is unsure as to the role he might have when he returns. Roberts informed reporters the Dodgers would prefer to use a four-man rotation in the NLDS (Harris link), and Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías, and Tyler Anderson seem destined to fill out three of those spots. The last starting role appears to be up for grabs amongst Andrew Heaney, Gonsolin, and May.
- The Dodgers activated Yency Almonte from the 15-day IL earlier today, with the right-handed relief pitcher returning to the active roster after dealing with elbow tightness in his pitching arm. In his first season with the Dodgers, the 28-year-old has pitched to a 1.15 ERA in 31 1/3 innings (29 appearances) with an above-average 24.6% strikeout rate. In a corresponding move, RHP Phil Bickford has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder fatigue. Bickford has seen heavy usage out of the pen, pitching 61 innings (60 appearances) with a 4.72 ERA while striking out opposing batters at a strong 27.1% clip. Bickford’s move to the IL ends his regular season.
I’ve never seen Maury Ahram as an author here before! If you are new, I welcome you and wish you luck!
The Dodgers have a lot of injuries this year
Dodgers have the highest injuries list every year to manipulate thier roster to thier advantage .one comes off another goes on .
Yeah MLB needs to eliminate retroactive placement on the IL. The Dodgers regularly place players on the IL retroactively so they only miss a couple of days and they don’t play short handed.
Even the Dodgers own writers have written about this “strategy” and how it gives them an “edge” (yet bang on a trash can…). It’s gotten to the point where the Commissioner’s office has floated a longer IL minimum for Starting Pitchers as a possible deterrent from starting a guy one night, placing him on the IL and brining up a fresh reliever til you need that starter again
Yes they can keep 5 guys on the 15 day list and rotate thier pitching accordingly to rest them . All teams can do this but can’t afford to .
I do wonder since the Commissioners office demands all team medical personal to sign off on these “injuries” how many team Doctors refuse for fear of someday having their licenses revoked
Baloney. The injuries to Kershaw, Treinen, Graterol, May, Gonsolin, Buehler, Hudson, just to name some of them, are completely real, and not a single one of these IL trips benefited the roster or positioned the Dodgers better for the playoffs.
Oh, and every team operates under the exact same IL rules.
Wrong!!! Manipulate? You obviously haven’t been following the Dodgers. These are legit and concerning injuries. Why would they IL Gonsolin for this long to the point where he won’t be built up to pitch more than 4 innings. Heaney missed time in two lengthy IL trips. Kershaw’s bad back, nothing new. Buehler out for the season. May out for most of the season, and now potentially not coming back for playoffs and has been ineffective. He sure could have used more time to refine from the rust. Treinen hasn’t pitched for most of the season and good chance he’s done. Duffy likely not going to make it, having not pitched the whole season. Same for Gonzalez. Almonte just came back and lost valuable time. Kahnle hasn’t pitched for most of season. Graterol has been up and down and you just hope he can last through the playoffs without getting injured. Dodgers get no break pitching guys like Grove, Moronta, and Reed, etc. when their regulars are hurt.
Injuries have been a large negative for the Dodgers pitching this season and creates a lot of uncertainty for playoffs. And lineup is pretty much set in stone barring injuries. The question will be which 13 pitchers the Dodgers put in the playoff roster. Lots of question marks for the last couple of spots. All depends on who is effective and who is actually healthy enough to pitch.
The Dodgers are 6th in the most amount of days of players spent on IL. Behind the Reds, Twins, Rays, Cubs and Nationals. Only one of those teams has a winning record. Following the Dodgers are the Red Sox, Tigers, Pirate and Marlins and none of those teams have winning records.
To say that teams that have a bunch of players on the IL and only use it to manipulate their roster is not shown by actual data.
The Dodgers have used the IL for players like Buehler who is having his second Tommy John surgery. Dustin May who was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Caleb Ferguson who was recovering from surgery, Edwin Rios who was recovering from surgery. Treinen who has been trying to avoid having surgery and chose to rehab all season instead.
Interesting. We are going to completely ignore the fact that even Dodger writers as recent as 2019 were writing about this “strategy”.
I don’t doubt they have legitimate injuries, it would be impossible for teams not to have players get hurt over a 162 game season. That being said we also know they milk it too
As recently as three years ago? Every team has its Injuries of Mystery but good luck naming one on the Dodgers this season because they’ve had way too many Injuries of Fact.
Yes facts are interesting. Another fact the 5 teams using the IL the least amount the Indians, Orioles, Astros, Cardinals, and Blue Jays are all in the playoffs or still competing for a playoff spot. Doesn’t seem like teams are using the IL for benefit, other than your unidentified writer from 2019
Daniel Preciado, Rob Arthur, A.J. Gonzalez
Why are you crying about injury lists? We’re talking about long-term IL stints. Why would any team not play their best players for long periods of time?
The context of what you’re talking about only works if you are dealing with short IL trips and a boat load of cheap depth within the 40 man roster that can be shuttled back and forth. These fringe players have to produce at comparable levels for it to work. Which explains the reason why the Dodgers are targeted given their ridiculous depth. Instead of desperately searching to find this smoking gun why not enjoy the ridiculous depth that the Dodgers have displayed this season. I’ve never seen so many injuries, especially within the pitching staff and yet the Dodgers lead in many pitching and hitting team categories including lowest ERA, WHIP, opponent batting average, highest batting OPS, runs scored, etc.
When I see May in the title I’m hoping Trevor May was released. Maybe tomorrow
Rushing Gonsolin back clearly shows they have no faith in Kershaw for the playoffs.
Rushing Gonsolin back? He pitched a 2 inning rehab start and Gonsolin said he felt great. They will have him on a pitch limit for a start against the Rockies this week. Where else would he pitch? Minor league seasons will have ended.
Who said he was being rushed back?
@sliderwithcheese
Ah, The Muted One.
There is no rushing, but there is a delicate balance between making sure he’s fully healthy and getting him back early enough so he’s fully stretched out to start, at least five innings. At this point only three starters are healthy, as Heaney is going to likely give you less than five innings and I consider him a super long reliever/opener. After Urias, Kershaw and Anderson you will need Gonsolin, as I also assume that May is not ready to start due to inconsistency and now injury.
Certainly May won’t start. The question on him is whether he’s got it figured out enough for the bullpen. Gonsolin might be used as bulk with an opener. The Dodgers have not had to resort to this strategy all season and I’m pretty sure they aren’t thrilled to have to consider it now.
Dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah, Catman!
The Dodgers clean niched best record. No reason to use any of their questionable pitchers at all.
“Treinen played catch yesterday, and, while it went fine, Treinen’s ability…”
There shouldn’t be a comma after and.