Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin won’t be ready for the beginning of the season due to his current ankle injury, manager Dave Roberts announced Friday (Twitter link via Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times). He’s expected to open the season on the 15-day injured list. Righties Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove are the favorites to break camp as the Dodgers’ fifth starter with Gonsolin on the IL.
The Dodgers are hoping for a relatively minimal absence for the 28-year-old Gonsolin, who improbably injured his ankle walking off the field following pitchers’ fielding practice earlier in camp. He’s only just recently resumed a throwing program, and there’s simply not enough time for him to get built back up enough to break camp in the rotation 13 days from now.
[Related: The Dodgers’ Rotation Options if Tony Gonsolin Misses Time]
Gonsolin started a career-high 24 games during the 2022 regular-season, pitching to a sensational 2.14 ERA with a quality 23.9% strikeout rate against a strong 7.0% walk rate over the life of 130 1/3 innings. He undoubtedly benefited from a .207 batting average on balls in play that he won’t sustain over a larger sample, but even with some expected regression he’s still a well above-average big league pitcher. The 132 1/3 innings he pitched between Triple-A and the Majors last year was the highest total he’s reached in any pro season since being drafted in 2016, however, so there are some durability concerns with the talented righty.
Both Pepiot and Grove are well-regarded prospects, though the former has drawn more national fanfare than the latter. Pepiot, 25, ranked among Baseball America’s top-100 prospects both last offseason (No. 99) and this offseason (No. 55). He pitched to a 3.47 ERA in his first MLB cup of coffee last season and a 2.56 mark in Triple-A, combining for a total of 127 2/3 innings. Pepiot’s command has never been his strong point but was particularly troubling in his brief debut last year, when he walked 27 of 160 batters (16.9%). He’ll obviously need to improve upon that mark to have success over the long run.
As for the 26-year-old Grove, he also made his big league debut in 2022, tossing 29 1/3 innings of 4.60 ERA ball. Grove’s 18% strikeout rate was well below average, but he recorded a solid 7.5% walk rate in his first big league audition. He also logged a 3.79 ERA in 76 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, displaying strong strikeout and walk rates along the way as he rose to the Majors.
Either Pepiot or Grove seems capable of filling what’s likely to be a short-term absence for Gonsolin behind a projected top four of Julio Urias, Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard and Dustin May. There’s plenty of injury concern amid that group, and May’s workload will likely be monitored in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, so it stands to reason that Pepiot and Grove could both be called upon multiple times over the course of the season. Further down the depth chart, top prospects Bobby Miller and Gavin Stone are joined by veterans Robbie Erlin and Dylan Covey. None are on the 40-man roster, but both Miller and Stone are top-100 prospects themselves and viewed as potential long-term options in the Los Angeles rotation.
The Dodgers will cope. This is nothing new for them, the regular season is not their problem. They’re very good at it.
Go Dodgers.
They shouldn’t participate in PFP. Or walk off the field. They might get hurt!!
Seriously, I hope he is back soon. I don’t think he will get much more than 20 starts this season, but when he is on the mound he is fun to watch pitch.
I really think people are overestimating the Dodgers capability this season.
There offense is comprised of:
Betts
Freeman
???
Their Starting rotation is comprised of:
Urias
120 innings of Kershaw
???
Their bullpen is comprised of:
7-9 guys they found in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium
What is the record for biggest YoY decline in win total? Just curious
Matt Harvey time!
Maybe but what probably will happen is they let pepiot or Grove cover the innings early on then acquire reinforcements at the deadline wherever they are needed.
That brings the total number of major league players who are starting the season on the IL to 283, and we still have two weeks left of spring training. MLB may have to delay the opening of the season a month or two.
World Series in a blizzard or in Hawaii.
2023 World Series between the Dodgers and Angels in a Typhoon. Games played in Arizona or Texas.
Cool cat Gonsolin nipped by ankle injury, won’t stalk the m(eow)ound fur at least a week as a member of the starting 9, lives.
Put down the green stuff, buddy
Nah. We all need a bit more, probably…
Some of y’all are a little obsessive with your Dodger hate.
That had me laughing
I can see you aren’t really so worried about being misunderstood.
Anyhow, since we’re talking history: no, the Dodgers really could not have stayed in Brooklyn. They designed a new ballpark for a site Robert Moses refused to sell to them. The other part of the problem is after the war a large part of their fan base had abandoned Brooklyn, moving to Queens, and the suburbs. So even if Moses had said yes, the Dodgers would have had tough go of it Brooklyn.
Wow, holding on to that hate for 66 years ever since the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles. Bitter much? The Brooklyn Dodgers were the hometown team, yes, but they always were going to live in the shadow of the vaunted Yankees and their insurmountable lead in championships. O’Malley could see that even with competitive and winning teams (won league 6 times from 1947-57, WS 1-5, all losses against NYY and 1 win vs NYY), the Dodgers went from high of 23,000 Avg attendance in 1947 to dwindling down to 13.6 (‘52) NL pennant and WS, 14.9 (‘53) NL pennant & WS, 13.2 (‘54), 13.4 (‘55) NL Pennant & WS win, 15.7 (‘56) NL pennant and WS loss, 13.4 (‘57) last year. Ebbet’s Field capacity was about 32,000 from 1949-1957, so the ballpark always less than half full. The Brooklyn area was in a long decline, attendance by loyal fans declined despite winning teams, resident fans who moved out of the area wanted to drive to the park but there was no parking space available, and Ebbet’s was falling into disrepair because of aging infrastructure. Brooklyn, for many reasons, wasn’t able to support the Dodgers well enough for the Dodgers to stay.
O’Malley had a new privately funded stadium planned in 1952 of 52,000 with a dome (pretty forward thinking) but ran into difficulties acquiring land and political opposition by Robert Moses, NYC planning commissioner who wanted O’Malley to move to a City owned Queens stadium (future Shea Stadium). O’Malley refused saying “we’re the Brooklyn Dodgers, not the Queens Dodgers” plus not wanting to be beholden to NYC politics. In the end, after many many public squabbles, Moses and O’Malley would / could not agree on a suitable stadium solution and O’Malley took the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1957 after the season ended.
Could O’Malley have had a new stadium in Queens? Maybe but not to his liking or terms. Could he have built his own new Stadium? No, Moses prevented that almost every step of the way. Were Brooklyn fans heartbroken, YES! But as a business decision, O’Malley practically had NO CHOICE. He would have had to somehow refurbish Ebbet’s without being able to add parking needed to attract commuter fans, he would have no ability to expand the park, and frankly despite rabid and loyal fans, the home attendance support just wasn’t there. The NY Giants baseball team faced the exact same problems and stadium opposition and, with O’Malley’s urging, also left New York for San Francisco.
You can blame O’Malley all you want, it’s your right, feelings, and even justifiable. But there was no practical or business way O’Malley was going to stay in business in Brooklyn, too many changes had happened locally, and NYC would not ALLOW him to build what he wanted, and instead tried to force him into the Queens stadium proposal. NYC politics had everything to do with essentially driving O’Malley out of Brooklyn, IMO.
Ebbet’s Field was touted to last 200 years, hyperbole of course. It only lasted 47 years before being torn down in 1960 for apartments which still stands. Citi Field has some architectural features that honor Ebbet’s.
Hate the Dodgers and O’Malley for that all you want if you want to remain bitter for the rest of your years. The Dodgers have moved on, the world had moved on, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have been more successful, both on the field and in Attendance.
Brooklyn, from 1883-1957 over 75 years won 12 NL pennants and were 1-9 in the World Series (2 pennants did not play a WS). The Los Angeles Dodgers from 1957-2022, 67 years have won 12 more NL Pennants, WS 6-6, been in postseason 27 times, including last 10 years straight against arguably more numerous good teams.
Saratoga are you talking about the 64 worlds fair?
Does TLDR mean Too dumb, couldn’t read in your case?
Let me summarize. Moses blocked a new stadium in Brooklyn or anywhere else other than Queens. Attendance was in the dumps in Ebbets. Queens was not going to draw more fans in crappy stadium. O’Malley made the smart decision and got the F out of there.
Wait! You said you didn’t hate the Dodgers. So all of that was a lie?
LMAO, you are trying to say you are 96 years old?
Okay saratoga, the 64 worlds fair was a massive failure and lost money for most involved. The ones who made money were crooked politicians. Moses’ fair wasn’t even sanctioned by the international body that controlled world’s fairs because he was charging for exhibitions and many major countries avoided it . It wasn’t an official world’s fair and acted largely as an advertisement for corporations. Moses was a crook and history on both sides sees him as a villain
Why was attendance so crappy in Brooklyn?? Was it solely a lack of parking?? I’m sure Brooklyn didn’t have the money it has now, but was it really that poor?? Would you say it was income based that kept fans from coming out?? Or were the Yankees just so much more popular that it didn’t matter how well the Doddgers played?? Just seems weird to me all the attendance issues. It’s New York City for crying out loud.
Ignorant SOB, it was mostly a function of shifting demographics.
47 was the end of the war and 48 was the local peak for the league as a whole. 49 to 53 saw league wide attendance decrease and sports like Basketball and football become popular.. The average attendance was a little below Brooklyn’s in the 50’s
For anyone interested in all the gory details about how the Dodgers came to leave Brooklyn, read “The Last Good Season” by Michael Shapiro. The go to history of Robert Moses is “The Power Broker” by Robert Caro.
You’re rooting for injury to another human being. Look in the mirror and grow up
Wise up! Your leg is being pulled.
Seriously. It’s comical how people are reacting. I bleed blue but I admit, saratoga’s posts gave me a chuckle
Stone looks every bit the part of a future star in this league. LAD would do well to legthen him out a bit and let him take a crack at a SP spot.
I think that (was/is) the plan. He was a starter most (all?) of last season, then his arm got all noodly near the end. I have concerns about his durability over 162
You are forgetting Ryan Pepiot.
Breakout this year.
Only if he can stop walking a batter 6 times a game.
Yeah. If only the first 10 starts of a guy’s MLB career didn’t lock in his entire career arc, maybe Pepiot could help this team
Did you read the article?
“who improbably injured his ankle walking off the field following pitchers’ fielding” — Sigh. if there’s one thing you can be sure of, the Dodgers WILL find a way to get injured
Tell that to the Mets (Nimmo today, Diaz, Quintana, Coonrad), Padres (Musgrove), Astros (McCullers), Nats (Cavalli), Tigers (Jobe), Giants (Crawford, Gonzales), Reds (Senzel), Etc.
Injuries happen, it’s part of the stress and strain of playing the game.
Wow never realized other teams get injured too! Thanks for the major eye-opener
Going out on a limb here. Dodgers win 91 games. Get WC berth
Dodgers will be fine. They’ve undergone a huge culture shift the last few years. Guys like Seager, Bellinger, and Joc were great players but none were considered the hardest workers. Freeman, Betts, and lesser additions like Miguel Rojas to cite a recent example, are known for their consistency, health and work ethic.
That farm system is stacked and one of the best in baseball for a reason.
Kewldood I think he’s underestimating by far but you’re also overestimating pretty much all of them. JD Martinez 43 doubles were at Fenway. Doubles park. Dustin May is not going to throw a lot of innings. Just cause Prior is there doesn’t make Thor not a question mark. You’re going to have to find a lot of innings outside the 1-5 rotation. Muncy has to be a lot better. And the rookies are unprovens.
But agreed that the pen is good and unprovens/reclamations could always turn around a season. Giants proved that. Still, no guarantees.
Look at La’s farm this year compared to SF’s farm a few years ago when they fell off a cliff
Having organizational depth (that is very talented) who are ready to step up for veterans who struggle is a very big difference
20% of the Dodgers prospects in the top 100 overall will become a MLB average player. Less than 5% will have a 4+ WAR season in their career. Those are the odds and the Dodgers have not beaten those odds in the past. Counting on organizational depth to fill more than one position a season is a fools errand.
If the Dodgers were only having to count on prospects to fill one position, it would be a good thing to have good organizational depth. That is not the case. At least 2 positions and possibly 3 will be filled with rookies on opening day. At least one spot in the rotation will as well. 3 rookies will get 10+ starts in 2023 on that staff.
20% of those will be league average. The others below league average.
The Dodgers don’t have the superstars to make up for that. Betts, Freeman, Smith, and Urias in his walk year. That’s it.
A whole lotta heat, is what Ryan will be bringing. C’mon go Peppy!- with apologies to the ghost of David Cassidy
16-1 2.14ERA 130 ings 79 hits.. I know it was only 24 starts but how this guy tony not get any Cy young talk is cray
His teammate went 17-7 with a 2.16, leading the league in ERA among qualified starters. Gonsolin didn’t hit inning threshold for his ERA to be in qualified group. And Gonsolin missed Sept. both guys are back this year.
All of that is to say… LA’s pitching is pretty darn good
Right..looking forward to seeing what Gavin Stone will become
Apparently Gonsolin is not back, hence the article about him starting the season on the IL.
Baseball is life.
A cat purring is one of the most comforting sounds in the world and while it certainly means your cat is happy and comfortable, the sound has also been long associated with a therapeutic healing ability on human bones and muscle.