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Tony Gonsolin

Latest On Dodgers’ Pitching Plans

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The Dodgers have no shortage of options for their starting rotation. Even after trading Kenta Maeda to the Twins, Los Angeles has Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Alex Wood, Julio Urías, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Ross Stripling and Jimmy Nelson on the 40-man roster. So too is prospect Mitchell White, but he doesn’t figure to be in the mix out of the gate after posting a 6.50 ERA in 63.2 innings at Triple-A last year.

That’s plenty for manager Dave Roberts to work with, but he offered a bit of clarity on the situation today. Urías will open the season in the rotation, Roberts told reporters (including Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). Gonsolin, it seems, will not be in that mix, Castillo adds. Roberts noted the 25-year-old has a chance to break camp with the club as a reliever, though.

A relief role is not in the cards for the club’s top pitching prospect. May is currently viewed as a starting pitcher only, Castillo relays. The 22-year-old thus seems likely to open the season in the rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City, he adds.

None of this news is especially surprising, although it does shine some light on the situation. Gonsolin made six starts (and five relief appearances) for L.A. in 2019. The former ninth-rounder was effective in his 40 MLB innings, working to a 2.93 ERA with a 22.7% strikeout rate, 9.2% walk rate and 41.7% ground ball rate. Impressively, he compiled a 4.35 ERA/4.38 FIP in 41.1 innings in the hitter-friendly PCL. Baseball America’s #82 overall prospect, Gonsolin’s long-term future is presumably still as a starter. Given the Dodgers’ pitching depth, though, it seems his immediate path to big league innings is in relief.

That won’t be the case for Urías, who actually worked mostly out of the bullpen in 2019. His results (2.49 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 8.3% walk rate, 38.7% ground ball rate) were even better than Gonsolin’s. That pen role was never expected to be permanent, though. Still just 23 and once the game’s consensus top pitching prospect, Urías’ 2019 innings were constrained a bit by health troubles. After logging nearly 80 innings last year, it seems he’s ready to shoulder a starter’s workload again.

May, too, served in a swing role in 2019 after making his MLB debut in August. BA’s #20 overall prospect, he showed well in his limited time in the show. He only made five starts at Triple-A before his promotion, though, and an early minor-league assignment, if indeed that comes to fruition, could help the club keep his innings in check as well.

If it weren’t clear already, Roberts has no problem deploying the pitching staff in a nontraditional manner. There’ll be ample innings to go around, and the club will surely rely on more than five of the names above to start games over the course of the year. If healthy, Buehler, Kershaw and Price seem like locks to take the ball every fifth day, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see a few different names penciled in behind them as the year progresses. That runoff should also aid a bullpen that is the closest thing the Dodgers have to a weakness. It’s an enviable situation for the NL West favorites.

Dodgers Activate Jedd Gyorko From IL

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10:54 am: Gonsolin’s promotion won’t merely be a one-day spot start. Manager Dave Roberts tells Ken Gurnick of MLB.com the rookie will stay on the active roster through at least next week to make one additional start.

9:04 am: The Dodgers announced today they have activated infielder Jedd Gyorko from the 60-day injured list. Additionally, the club has recalled right-hander Tony Gonsolin from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned right-handed reliever Josh Sborz and first baseman Edwin Ríos to clear active roster space (h/t to Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times). No corresponding 40-man roster move was required.

Gyorko’s first game back will also be his first as a Dodger. He suffered back and wrist issues while playing for the Cardinals, but LA nevertheless acquired him at the deadline while he was on the shelf. With the NL West all but a mathematical lock, the Dodgers could afford to acquire a player not healthy enough to contribute immediately who could play a role for them in October. Gyorko has experience at all four infield positions, although he’s probably best suited in the corners, and was a solid all-around player for St. Louis between 2016 and 2018. His injury-ravaged 2019 season means LA will almost certainly buy him out for $1M after the season, rather than exercise his $13MM club option for 2020, but he adds to the club’s already-enviable depth. He’s starting at first base today against Atlanta.

Gonsolin will start this afternoon’s game. The rookie is a solid prospect who has pitched well but not spectacularly with Triple-A Oklahoma City in abbreviated outings. Over 41.1 innings, he’s worked to a 4.35 ERA (better than it appears at first glance in the Pacific Coast League) with high strikeout (26.2%) and walk (11.0%) rates. He’s pitched quite well in three MLB appearances.

Sborz and Ríos, both 25, each made their MLB debuts in 2019 as well. Sborz tossed three innings out of the bullpen and has dominated in Triple-A this year, while Ríos raked in limited big league action as a lefty bench bat. The corner infielder has slashed .266/.339/.551 in Triple-A, which looks more impressive at first glance than it actually is. That output’s only six percent better than average for the level, although Ríos has a stronger track record of hitting in the high minors the past couple years.

Dodgers Place Hyun-Jin Ryu On 10-Day IL

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 10-day injured list with neck soreness. His anticipated timeline to return isn’t yet known.

In other moves, the L.A. org announced the already reported arrival of exciting pitching prospect Dustin May while recalling fellow righty Tony Gonsolin. Reliever Dylan Floro was optioned out to create roster space. Southpaw Scott Alexander moves to the 60-day injured list to make 40-man space for May.

Ryu, 32, has been on an unbelievable run of success since accepting a qualifying offer to remain with the Dodgers. In 21 starts, he has run up 135 2/3 innings of 1.53 ERA pitching while maintaining 7.8 K/9 against 1.1 BB/9 along with a 51.5% groundball rate.

It’s unlikely the veteran lefty will be able to keep up quite that level of output the rest of the way, but he seems to be in top form at an important time for a Dodgers club that just placed a big bet on its existing pitching options at the trade deadline. Given his lengthy injury history and limited accumulation of innings in recent campaigns, it’s not surprising to see Ryu hit the shelf. There’s no indication of the seriousness of the injury, but it’s reasonably likely the Los Angeles organization was as concerned with finding Ryu some down time as it was worried about this particular malady.

NL Injury Notes: Rendon, Dodgers, Pirates

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Checking in on the latest notable injury news from the National League…

  • Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon finally earned his first All-Star nod this season, but the 29-year-old is going to miss the game, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com was among those to tweet. Rendon will instead rest his ailing hamstring and quad, two areas that have nagged him since the Nationals’ series against the Reds from May 31 to June 2. Despite having to play through pain over the past month-plus, Rendon’s performance has remained stellar for the surging Nats. He’s hitting .304/.389/.615 (152 wRC+) with 20 home runs through 316 plate appearances.
  • The Dodgers offered updates on a slew of injured players today, with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register among those covering the news (all links to Twitter). Backstop Will Smith and righty Tony Gonsolin, present depth pieces with bright long-term outlooks, are each headed to the injured list. The former has a strained right oblique and will be placed on the MLB IL, having not played since being sent down. The latter is dealing with a left hamstring issue and will go on ice for a stretch to avoid any complications. Meanwhile, the club is awaiting the returns of infielders David Freese and Corey Seager. The former is just waiting for his hamstring to heal up; he’ll seemingly remain out through the All-Star break. The latter is also not a candidate for activation before the mid-summer festivities but could rejoin the club immediately thereafter.
  • Pirates southpaw Steven Brault exited his start against the Brewers on Friday with an ominous-sounding issue – left shoulder discomfort – per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The severity of Brault’s injury isn’t known yet, but he’s not feeling great at the moment, Will Graves of The Associated Press tweets. Should Brault require a stint on the IL, he’d become the fifth notable Pittsburgh starter to go on the shelf this season. Jameson Taillon, Chris Archer, Trevor Williams and Jordan Lyles have all missed various amounts of time. The onslaught of starter injuries is a key reason the Pirates have turned to the swingman Brault, who has done a decent job over 60 2/3 innings. Across 15 appearances and nine starts, he owns a 4.15 ERA/4.53 FIP with 7.86 K/9, though he has walked a hefty 4.75 per nine.

Dodgers Promote Edwin Rios, Select Zac Rosscup’s Contract

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The Dodgers announced a set of roster moves today, including the selection of left-hander Zac Rosscup’s contract from Triple-A.  Infielder Edwin Rios was also called up to the majors, while Caleb Ferguson and Tony Gonsolin were optioned to Triple-A.  To create a 40-man roster spot for Rosscup, A.J. Pollock was shifted to the 60-day injured list.

This will be the 25-year-old Rios’ first taste of Major League action, following five seasons in the Dodgers’ farm system after being a sixth-round draft pick in 2015.  Rios is ranked as the 12th-best Dodgers prospect by MLB.com, whose scouting report touts Rios’ power, bat speed, and hard-contact ability.  As you’d expect from a Dodgers player, Rios can play multiple positions; he has primarily been a corner infielder in his young career, though he has experience in left field over the last two seasons and a handful of appearances in right field.

Rios will add another left-handed bat to the L.A. roster, and functionally seems to fill more or less the same role as the hot-hitting Matt Beaty, another lefty-swinger.  The Dodgers are no strangers to roster churn, of course, and have the comfort of a big lead in the NL West to mix and match their lineup while waiting for Pollock and Corey Seager to return from the IL.

This will be Rosscup’s second stint with the Dodgers, as he first joined the organization on a waiver claim in July 2018 before being let go after the season.  Rosscup has already changed uniforms twice this season, and has a 4.80 ERA over 15 total innings for the Mariners and Blue Jays.  Rosscup’s career has been defined by both a lot of strikeouts and a lack of control, and those two trends have continued this season to the tune of 22 strikeouts and 16 walks over his 15 frames of work.

Still, his lopsided career splits (left-handed hitters have a .536 OPS against Rosscup, compared to a 1.016 OPS from righty batters) make Rosscup a good LOOGY-type pitcher for a Los Angeles bullpen that is short on southpaw depth, as Julio Urias is the only other left-hander in the relief corps.  Ferguson was posting solid numbers earlier in the season but has struggled badly as of late, allowing runs in five of his last seven outings while posting a 9.72 ERA over his last 8 1/3 innings pitched.

Dodgers Promote Tony Gonsolin

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WEDNESDAY: The Dodgers have optioned catcher Will Smith to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room for Gonsolin, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. They also transferred injured reliever Tony Cingrani to the 60-day IL, Gurnick relays.

MONDAY: Right-hander Tony Gonsolin will start for the Dodgers in Arizona on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts told Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and other media (Ron Cervenka of ThinkBlueLA.com first reported Gonsolin’s promotion). The Dodgers’ 40-man roster is full, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move to create a spot for Gonsolin.

The 25-year-old Gonsolin has been a member of the Los Angeles organization since it used a ninth-round pick on him in 2016. This year, in Gonsolin’s first Triple-A experience, he has recorded a terrific 2.77 ERA/3.57 FIP with 10.74 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 in 26 innings. Gonolsin has averaged only a little over three frames per start in eight appearances this year, in part because of an early season oblique injury, though he did amass 128 innings in a 2018 campaign divided between the High-A and Double-A levels.

MLB.com (No. 4) and FanGraphs (No. 6) each regard Gonsolin as one of the Dodgers’ best prospects. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com note Gonsolin boasts a fastball capable of hitting triple digits and solid secondary offerings in the form of a splitter, curveball and slider.

With the help of his expansive repertoire, Gonsolin could develop into a No. 3 major league starter eventually, though he won’t face such pressure immediately. The front of the Dodgers’ rotation is already in enviable shape with Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Hyun-Jin Ryu leading the way, but the club’s dealing with an injury to Rich Hill. As a result, Gonsolin will have a chance to join Kenta Maeda and Tuesday starter Ross Stripling toward the back of LA’s loaded rotation.

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