The Los Angeles Dodgers saw several players make their 2022 Spring Training debut on Thursday, including the newly-signed Hanser Alberto and Kevin Pillar, who both were in the lineup against the Colorado Rockies.
On the pitching side, Tony Gonsolin was nothing short of impressive in his first Cactus League start of the year. He collected six strikeouts over three perfect innings at Salt River Fields.
Gonsolin is entering his fourth MLB season and is looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued 2021 campaign that never truly got off the ground. He didn’t throw his first pitch until June 9, struggled upon initially returning and then was mired in inconsistency.
Gonsolin put an emphasis on improving the strength in his right shoulder and is encouraged by the results thus far, via Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com:
“Last year was an up-and-down season, and I feel so much better this year,” Gonsolin said. “I’m ready to go and get the workload up and continuing building up. I’m continuing my offseason goals of continuing to strengthen and stabilize and all of that good stuff to make sure [my shoulder is] moving good. I think it’s going to be an ongoing thing for the rest of my career.”
Despite the injuries and struggles to pitch deep into games last season, Gonsolin finished a respectable 4-1 with a 3.23 ERA across 15 appearances (13 starts).
Come the postseason, the Dodgers again leaned on Gonsolin’s versatility as he was used out of the bullpen for three relief appearances against the Atlanta Braves during the National League Championship Series.
Gonsolin vying for spot in Dodgers rotation
As it currently stands, only Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw are guaranteed spots in the Dodgers’ Opening Day rotation. The final two openings will likely come down to some combination of Gonsolin, Andrew Heaney, Tyler Anderson and David Price.
With rosters reportedly expanding to 28 players until May 2, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently said the team will carry more than 14 pitchers during the first month of the regular season.
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