The Dodgers announced that they have placed right-hander Tony Gonsolin on the 15-day injured list with right forearm inflammation, recalling left-hander Bryan Hudson in the corresponding move. Right-hander Ryan Pepiot is up as the club’s “27th man” for today’s double-header. Manager Dave Roberts says that it’s unlikely Gonsolin will return this season, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
The move to the IL doesn’t come as a total shock, as that seemed to be the plan after yesterday’s game, as Ardaya laid out. But the exact nature of Gonsolin’s injury wasn’t exactly clear. His velocity is clearly down, with his fastball averaging 92.4 mph this year, the lowest of his career. The results have also been poor, with his 4.98 earned run average more than double last year’s 2.14 mark. But the club didn’t provided any specific diagnosis, only saying that the issue is related to his elbow. Now he’s not only going on the injured list but it seems his season is likely to be done.
More information on the injury will likely be forthcoming, but it seems like 2023 is destined to go down as a disappointing follow-up to his 2022 breakout. Last year, he threw 130 1/3 innings over 24 starts. As mentioned, he allowed just 2.14 earned runs per nine innings, striking out 23.9% of opponents while walking just 7% and keeping the ball on the ground at a 43.1% clip.
Here in 2023, he began the season on the injured list thanks to a sprained ankle, getting activated in late April. In addition to his ERA jumping to 4.98, all of his rate stats have gone in the wrong direction. He’s striking out just 18.9% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 9.2% clip and getting grounders on 36% of balls in play. The club seemingly tried to get him to pitch through this ailment but last night’s start appears to have been a proverbial coffin nail, with Gonsolin allowing 10 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Marlins.
Regardless of the specifics, this is the latest in a series of injuries to the Dodger rotation this year. Dustin May was able to make nine starts this year before requiring flexor tendon surgery that will keep him out until next summer. Michael Grove is currently on the injured list due to lat tightness. Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urías each spent time on the IL earlier this year, but both are back now.
Kershaw and Urías are joined in the rotation by rookie Bobby Miller and deadline acquisition Lance Lynn. The departure of Gonsolin will require the club to find a fifth starter at some point. Pepiot, who himself missed the first few months of the season due to an oblique strain, seems to be the likeliest option. Roberts told reporters, including Ardaya, that Pepiot could stick around after joining the club today for their hurricane-induced double-header. Ryan Yarbrough and Gavin Stone are also possibilities.
The Dodgers are still in excellent shape for the year, currently sporting a record of 74-47. That’s the second-best mark in the National League and gives them a lead of 10.5 games in the West. But they were hoping to have more rotation depth than this for the playoffs. In addition to getting Lynn at the deadline, they also lined up a deal to get Eduardo Rodriguez from the Tigers, though he blocked that trade via his no-trade clause. The loss of Gonsolin will further thin out an area that the Dodgers were hoping to bolster as recently as three weeks ago.
One big reinforcement could still be coming in the form of Walker Buehler, who underwent Tommy John surgery last year but is still hoping to return as a starter this year. Time will tell whether that’s realistic or not, but the Dodgers will move forward for now with Pepiot seemingly stepping into the mix. He posted a 3.47 ERA in 36 1/3 innings last year, his debut season. However, he had a 16.9% walk rate in that time and was likely helped out by a .244 batting average on balls in play and 86.1% strand rate. After missing the start of this year with that oblique issue, he’s since made six Triple-A starts with a 3.97 ERA.
Bummer dude was having a solid year!
He was not.
Can confirm as a fantasy baseball owner
Actually he was having the worst year of his career. TunT1N do you work for CNN?
Haven’t paid as much attention since my team is sucking it up, I apologize my statement was made in error he had a decent start to the season.
Gonsolong.
chilliwack
TJ2?
Still Solid
Kershaw, Urias, Miller, Lynn & Yarbrough
Pepiot probably before Yarbrough since he’s been getting ramped up in AAA.
Kershaw Julio and Lynn should be a nice 3 man set for them come October. I really liked the move to get Lynn for the playoffs specifically. It’s been 12 years since his rookie year World Series and last time he pitched in the postseason he got destroyed by Houston. I imagine he will be charged up and super passionate about a playoff run.
You’re absolutely delusional. That trio will get rocked by any competent offensive team.
Kershaw having a great season (not sure why you think his statistics this season dictate that he’ll get rocked in the playoffs)?
Lynn has a 1.44 era since coming to the Dodgers
Urias is 3-0 with 3 total earned runs over his last 3 starts
All three guys are all stars and former cy young vote getters
So please, I’ll take the bait. Explain to me with actual numbers and coherent thoughts why these three will get rocked in the playoffs?
THEN. You have my permission to call me delusional 🙂
Ok, no problem. Here’s their playoff ERAs:
Lynn: 5.28
Kershaw: 4.22
Urias: 3.68
Lynn’s meh. Kershaw is, of course, notorious for postseason chokes. As for Urias, his numbers would be much worse without the fake COVID playoffs (when he did well bc there wasn’t any real pressure).
So yeah, not exactly an awe-inspiring bunch.
“rent free” is the most boring response by the most boring people — congrats!
Hey, you’re entitled to your opinion and those are good stats. I’ll take Urias in the playoffs any day of the week and you have to take into account Kershaw’s improvement over his most recent postseason performances to that unimpressive playoff era of his.
However. There is nothing delusional about my comment and rather than name calling it’s better to actually use your big boy words and make a point.
I digress.
Get out of here. Both of you. Come back when you learn how to converse and debate like adults. We actually know how to talk baseball here. Come back when you want to do that instead of focusing on the poster and calling names like a kindergartner.
Jiminy Christmas
This isn’t Facebook. This isn’t 4chan. Go away
Bro thinks he’s the police. Quiet time…
Sir, this is a baseball site.
I have zero tolerance for people being morons to each other. Take it somewhere else kids. I’ll call your moms to pick you up
Like a bunch of weenie dogs barking at each other from 3 houses away
You’re saying more than anyone else. Quiet time, bozo.
Yeah dude I like this website. People like you are exhausting.
You go around site to site antagonizing people, purposefully trying to make them mad.
Then. When they react to your attempts to make them mad, you act like you’ve scored some sort of victory? Like, “ohhhhh you’re mad? You’re mad lol haha”
People like you need to be shunned and called out publicly or else we will never change.
I’ve reported you and will continue to report you and every other guy infiltrating our sacred baseball talk site. Some of us have been here for 20 years.
Simply ignore posts you don’t like. Are you a
child? “I reported you.” LOL who cares?
I could do that, and sometimes I do, but I actually care about people and the way we treat each other. I actually care about this website and don’t want people like you here, whatsoever.
Because of that, I have plenty of energy for you.
PS you’re really cool for “not caring”
Also; I believe that guys like you are a major contributing factor to how divisive we are. People being complete asses to each other consequence free behind the keyboard is a massive problem. I hope to make this as open as possible and discuss when prudent.
So now a message board exchange stands in for an entire country? You’re basically monologuing with yourself. Seems like deep insecurity. There’s nothing noble about being a narc, either. Hope you get the help you need…signing off!
I appreciate your insight and there’s probably some truth to that.
Also, nothing I’ve said is incorrect. Perhaps it would be apt for you to actually take what I’ve told you into consideration, deep consideration instead of projecting your displeasure with yourself onto me.
I hope YOU get the help you need.
Thanks for letting me know you’re signing off! I was scared I wouldn’t get to say goodbye
Fake playoffs? You are FAKE NEWS! Every team had the same chance to win it all! Also, not the 1st time there has been a shortened season. You want to talk fake. The cheating Astros winning in 2017 are Illegitimate Champions! That title should have been stripped!
The 2020 “season” was only 60 games long. Hope this helps.
Didn’t you say you signed off? Get back in your cage already.
quickmeme.com/meme/3tuohe
And really fat.
Buehler for the playoffs.
We hope. Right?
That 4 inning 10 run disaster of an outing last night must’ve really hurt.
Or maybe he’s been gritting through this injury all season since dodgers had so many SP depth issues and were desperate, and he did the best he could? It sounds very clear he’s been pitching thru an injury for quite awhile and it just came to a head yesterday where he was clearly not right and velocity was way down. Not sure why people have to take the most cynical and snarky interpretation to this stuff instead of looking at evidence and all the quotes this past month about Gonsolin’s health. He’s been excellent in the past.
So wish I could down vote this bro. Tim Derkess where are you ?
Downvote for why? Dude is injured. He wasn’t injured because he was sad about giving up 10 runs. Let me know what part of what I wrote was incorrect.
Hopefully he meant the comment you were replying on(?)
Not a terrible for this year in his current form though. Probably health influenced, but he definitely isn’t their 5th best option with a healthy Buehler. Yarbrough has been better to this point also.
underdog: The article provided speculation that the Dodgers wanted him to pitch through the pain. If that’s true, it sounds a lot like what they did in FB. “Just pop these painkillers. Don’t be a pansy and tell me you can’t play on a broken leg.”
2 of his last 3 outings were awful.
Even being “babied” by the Dodgers couldn’t protect him. SMH.
Gonsolin was injured all year. That was pretty clear. He disappointed but he probably should have been on the IL a long time ago but pitched through because the team’s pitching was so decimated with other injuries. We should probably be admiring him for sacrificing and being a great teammate.
Echo Park: Or a complete idiot for not realizing that by pitching in pain will probably lead to his second TJS. That when he gets older he will have suffered enough severe injuries by “taking one for the team” that he’ll need a caregiver to help him lift his fork to his mouth.
Why would he’s just use his other arm?
Talk about complete idiot…
Nicely said Echo!
Oh my gosh just get The Surgery done. Don’t wait don’t drag it out just get it done. Don’t do what other organizations are doing and wait 6 weeks or 2 months to get it done. The problem won’t dissappear. Maybe he can come back next September and contribute.
Worst medical staff in MLB
would love to see your rankings of medical staffs from 1-30 because clearly you are an expert medical staff evaluator. Those are few and far between these days.
Just ask Some Guy on the Internet. He always knows!
Well their entire rotation is injured every year, so maybe the OP is onto something.
Yeah because only the Dodgers have pitching injuries
It seems Gonsolin and May are never going to get through a full MLB season
It certainly isn’t unique for a pitcher to be placed on the IL during the season. Are you aware of how many different pitchers went on the IL this year?
168.
May and Gonsolin aren’t alone in not making it through a season healthy.
May and Gonsolin have been in the big leagues since 2019 and neither have played a full season, yet each year both are expected to be major contributors to the Dodgers rotation is more the point i was making. But you go ahead with your wet blanket numbers…
You claim May has been in the “big leagues since 2019.” That’s a veiled statement. He wasn’t called up until after the All-Star break, in August. If you want to count his time in the minor leagues that year, then he did pitch a full season without injury, He pitched in AA, the AA All-Star Game, the AA Futures Game, in AAA, then in the big leagues, including the post-season. That’s a long season. He pitched in the shortened 2020 season without incident. Then, 2021-2023 is when then injury misfortunes hit.
Gonsolin has a similar track record, getting called up in the middle of 2019 and staying healthy for all of 2020.
And “wet blanket numbers?” So, you’re saying these numbers/facts are ruining your fun at pointing out there lack of health? “Yes,” the two were counted on being key rotation contributors to varying degrees, but I don’t believe you or anyone has fun calling out the disappointment.
The writing’s on the wall for both players that next year will likely be a rehab year followed by more kid gloves and innings limits in 2025.
Why isn’t Emmet Sheehan on the list of reinforcements? He’s already on the 40-man and was optioned to OKC only a couple of weeks ago. He’d come back up before Gavin Stone, you’d think.
I agree he should be on the list, but as for actually bringing him up, he’s not ready.
I think Pepiot is a better option as Sheehan will not be on the playoff roster. Sheehan is not ready to pitch yet.
Pepiot is first in line, obviously, but the point is Sheehan is more ready than Gavin Stone, and he’s mentioned as a possible promotion.
My guess unless it turns out to be a long rehab sorta thing is that Gonsolin has pitched for the Dodgers for the last time. If the offseason goes as many predict there will be new starting pitching coming in, and Gonsolin is just not as reliable as they would have hoped after last season.
StreakingBlue: Who will they keep and who will be coming in? Kershaw is only 35 and isn’t slowing down so maybe he’ll come back. Urias hasn’t had a good walk year so he might re-sign. Who is after them? A lot of in-house pitchers or new ones from outside of the organization?
Kershaw’s last full season was 2015. The last two seasons he made 22 starts and this season he can max out at 23. He IS slowing down.
Dodgers and Tampa Bay starting to resemble each other with their pitchers burning out by the droves. Perhaps some shared philosophy between the two front offices in how they utilize pitchers. Ballz to the wallz, burn ’em out, add more meat to the grinder, churn those pitchers, etc.
As a Brewers fan, I also wonder why they let him pitch yesterday. You are risking a worse injury by playing him. I understand the guy may have wanted to play. Saying no is hard.
Doesn’t make sense. Kershaw gets shut down for 5 to 6 weeks because of shoulder inflammation. He says he feels fine and could pitch. Organization has always erred to the side of caution with injuries to the players. Why was Gonsolin made a sacrificial lamb? He had same forearm issue late last year. Surgery next for him?
Won’t be able to trade him this offseason I wouldn’t think.
Most likely non-tendered
Just remember you dirtbag Dodgers fans that booed Tony Gonsolin that he was 16-1 last year and the man’s livelihood and career are in jeopardy. Then again you spoiled fools booed one of your stalwarts Kenley Jansen in 2021 over a couple blown saves because it ended up resulting in one year when you couldn’t actually cakewalk to a division title. Phoniest fans in sports, no sense of community in LA as it connects to its sports teams, and thus fitting that the team’s one title since 1988 was a totally BS one in barely over 1/3 of a season in front of only a handful of fans for the final two rounds.
The salty one^