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Dodgers’ Victor Gonzalez To Undergo Arthroscopic Surgery

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Dodgers left-hander Victor Gonzalez will undergo arthroscopic debridement surgery on his pitching elbow, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register).  There is hope that Gonzalez will be able to pitch this season, though it will ultimately depend on what doctors find during the procedure.

Gonzalez has yet to pitch in 2022 after developing elbow inflammation during Spring Training.  The southpaw was roughly expected to be back on the mound by now, though further examination revealed that surgery was required.  As a result, Gonzalez now faces an extended absence, even if he is able to make it back before the season is over.

The 26-year-old made his MLB debut in 2020, posting a 1.33 ERA over 20 1/3 innings in the regular season and then a 2.70 ERA in 6 2/3 frames during the Dodgers’ run to a World Series title.  After that dream rookie year, Gonzalez was still pretty effective in 2021, delivering a 3.57 ERA over 35 1/3 innings, as his workload was limited by foot and knee injuries.

David Price and Mitch White are expected to return from the injured list in the next week or two, bringing some help to a Dodgers pitching staff that has once again been thinned out by injuries.  Some are relatively minor health problems, while others (like Gonzalez or Blake Treinen) are longer-term in nature.  For Treinen, Roberts said that the veteran righty will look to rehab his ailing shoulder without another visit to a doctor, and Treinen won’t be back until after the All-Star break.  Treinen has pitched only three innings this year due to shoulder soreness, and had been slated to undergo an MRI.

NL West Notes: Upton, D’backs, Freeland, Dodgers

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The Diamondbacks have “considered” a reunion with Justin Upton, The New York Post’s Jon Heyman writes, though it isn’t yet clear what the 34-year-old outfielder is himself planning for his next step.  Upton has given some thought to retiring altogether after the Angels released the veteran last week.

If Upton does continue his career, a return to the D’Backs would represent a nice full-circle moment.  Arizona selected Upton with the first overall pick of the 2005 draft, and Upton spent his first six Major League seasons with the Diamondbacks.  That tenure included two All-Star appearances for Upton and arguably the finest year of his entire career, as he hit .289/.369/.529 with 31 home runs in 2011 and finished fourth in NL MVP voting.

Upton has been roughly a replacement-level player over his last three seasons with the Angels, but since signing him would cost the Diamondbacks only a prorated minimum salary, it might be a worthwhile flier for a team that has gotten off to a brutal start at the plate.  The right-handed hitting Upton represents some lineup balance since many of Arizona’s top outfield choices (David Peralta, Daulton Varsho, Pavin Smith, Jake McCarthy) are all left-handed, plus DH Seth Beer is also a lefty bat.

More from around the NL West…

  • Kyle Freeland’s arbitration hearing is set for May 24, and Freeland tells The Athletic’s Nick Groke that the Rockies hasn’t yet discussed a long-term extension.  The left-hander is scheduled to reach free agency after the 2023 season, and while Freeland has battled his share of injuries and inconsistency, he has been a generally solid pitcher over his five-plus MLB seasons — a career 4.28 ERA and 48.7% grounder rate over 663 innings, all with Colorado.  Rockies GM Bill Schmidt sounded open to the idea of eventually discussing an extension, saying “Nothing’s out of the question but we need to see what happens.  We love [Freeland] and we hope he’s here for a long time.”
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts updated reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio) on the health status of some injured pitchers.  Tommy Kahnle may be the closest to a return, as after missing the entire 2021 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, Kahnle is on a rehab assignment in the minors and might be able to join the Dodgers before the end of April.  Caleb Ferguson is also recovering from TJ surgery and is tentatively slated for a return in the middle of May, as Ferguson had some elbow soreness during Spring Training.  Victor Gonzalez developed inflammation in his throwing elbow at the end of spring camp and has a tentative recovery timetable of 3-4 weeks.

Dodgers Activate Trea Turner; Jimmy Nelson To Undergo Elbow Surgery

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The Dodgers announced they’ve reinstated Trea Turner from the COVID-19 injured list. He’s not in tonight’s starting lineup, but he could make his team debut off the bench this evening. Reliever Victor González has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 4, with right knee inflammation to open active roster space. To create 40-man roster space, the team has transferred righty Jimmy Nelson to the 60-day injured list. Nelson will undergo Tommy John surgery and a right flexor tendon repair procedure.

Whether tonight or tomorrow, Turner is soon to get into his first game as a Dodger. The All-Star shortstop came over alongside Max Scherzer last week as part of deadline season’s top blockbuster. The 28-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before the trade, though, so he’s remained in isolation until today.

Turner adds another elite player to a lineup already chock-full of stars. He’s hitting .322/.369/.521 with eighteen home runs across 420 plate appearances, his second consecutive season of elite offensive output. One of the game’s best baserunners, Turner has also swiped 21 bags, all while playing average or better defense at shortstop. The whole package makes Turner one of the sport’s most valuable position players, although he seems likely to slide over to second base in deference to Corey Seager in L.A. Wherever he plays, Turner should be a massive boon to a Dodger club that trails the league-best Giants by four games in the NL West.

It’s not all positive news on the health front for the Dodgers with Nelson undergoing surgery. While the club didn’t provide a timetable for his return beyond ruling him out for the rest of this season, it seems likely he’ll miss the entire 2022 campaign rehabbing. It’s crushing news for a respected, high-quality pitcher who has been plagued by a series of long-term health issues in recent seasons.

Nelson looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter after a stellar 2017 season with the Brewers. A shoulder injury cost him the entire 2018 campaign, though. That kept him out for a good chunk of the 2019 season too, with an elbow injury costing him another month that year. Nelson was ineffective when he was healthy enough to pitch, and Milwaukee non-tendered him at the end of that season.

The Dodgers signed Nelson during the 2019-20 offseason, but a July back surgery prevented him from pitching all year. Los Angeles brought Nelson back on a minor league deal to work in relief, and he made good on his end of that agreement. The 32-year-old pitched to a sterling 1.86 ERA over 29 frames this year, emerging as a potential high-leverage option for manager Dave Roberts. Unfortunately, he landed on the IL with elbow inflammation on Wednesday. That issue apparently requires surgical repair.

Nelson will hit free agency at the end of this season. He could field some multi-year offers from teams with an eye toward the 2023 campaign. Alternatively, Nelson could rehab the injury on his own and look to market himself to clubs after he has returned to health. Either way, it’s a devastating turn of events for a player who has already overcome more than his fair share of health issues.

Dodgers Promote Zach McKinstry

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The Dodgers have promoted utilityman Zach McKinstry to the active roster, per a club announcement. He’ll take the roster spot of southpaw Victor Gonzalez, who was optioned down.

It’s quite an achievement for the 25-year-old McKinstry, who entered the professional ranks as a 33rd-round draft pick back in 2016. He’ll give the Dodgers yet another versatile position player to plug in as game situations warrant.

McKinstry obviously wasn’t seen as a significant prospect when he was selected out of Central Michigan, where he showed excellent contact ability and plate discipline but little in the way of power. That profile shifted last year, as he turned in a cumulative .300/.366/.516 batting line with 19 long balls over 479 plate appearances between the Double-A and Triple-A levels.

Dodgers Designate Terrance Gore For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced Thursday that they’ve designated outfielder Terrance Gore for assignment and recalled lefty Victor Gonzalez from their alternate training site.

Gore, 29, appeared in a pair of games with the Dodgers but didn’t get an at-bat, as he entered those contests as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. That’s how things have gone in the bigs for much of Gore’s career. His blistering speed has made him a frequent pinch-running and defensive specialist, but he has just 77 plate appearances in parts of seven MLB seasons, including 2020. The Royals gave Gore a career-high 58 plate appearances last year, and he posted a solid .275/.362/.353 slash in that small sample. However, Gore carries a .213/.307/.269 slash in 492 Triple-A plate appearances.

The 24-year-old Gonzalez will be making his MLB debut when he first gets into a game. He soared through three minor league levels last season, pitching to a combined 2.31 ERA with averages of 9.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and 0.7 HR/9 through 89 2/3 frames along the way. Gonzalez regularly generates strong ground-ball rates and is considered to be among the Dodgers’ top 30 or so best prospects. He worked more in relief than in the bullpen last season, and although the Dodgers have had multiple injuries pop up in their rotation, it seems the ’pen is where Gonzalez will begin.

Manager Dave Roberts announced to reporters today that right-hander Tony Gonsolin will get the starting nod tomorrow (Twitter link via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group), so he’ll need to be recalled from the alternate training site tomorrow.

Dodgers Select Victor Gonzalez’s Contract

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The Dodgers have selected the contract of left-hander Victor Gonzalez from Triple-A Oklahoma City, the team announced.  The move puts Gonzalez on the 40-man roster and protects him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.

The 23-year-old Gonzalez isn’t ranked within MLB.com’s ranking of the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects, and he only just cracked the Triple-A level this year, tossing 14 innings for Oklahoma City.  Nevertheless, the L.A. front office felt he was worth keeping given Gonzalez’s impressive numbers across three minor league levels in 2019.

Beginning the year in high-A ball and ending in Triple-A, Gonzalez posted a cumulative 2.31 ERA, 9.3 K/9, and 2.91 K/BB rate over 89 2/3 innings.  Though Gonzalez started 13 of his 38 total appearances this season, he worked exclusively as a reliever in 15 Triple-A outings, and bullpen work is probably Gonzalez’s likeliest path to a possible big league debut in 2020.

With Gonzalez added, the Dodgers now have 38 players on their 40-man roster.  Teams have until November 20 to finalize their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft, which takes place on December 12.

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