Tony Gonsolin has been a steady presence in the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation since his return from the 15-day injured list in late April.
His importance to the team has also increased significantly with the injuries to Dustin May, Julio Urías, Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove, along with multiple bullpen arms on the mend or struggling.
So far, Gonsolin has delivered when needed, and the 29-year-old made his sixth start of the season against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. He threw 5.2 innings while only going up three hits, but two of them were home runs, which led to three runs scoring.
Although it was not his best outing of the year, it came against one of MLB’s best lineups, and Gonsolin felt he was relatively effective overall, via SportsNet LA:
“I felt like I executed pitches pretty well. I feel like I made two mistakes, and they hit them both out. I can’t walk Albies in that situation to lead to Ozuna’s homer, but it happens.”
The biggest blemish to Gonsolin’s night came when he walked Ozzie Albies on five pitches. The first pitch was a fastball down the middle, and the next four were all balls, with three of them nowhere near the strike zone:
“I just tried to nibble early. So going back, I would probably just be more aggressive. Throw some heaters and let him hit it. If he hits a homer, oh well. It’s better than a walk.”
Overall, Gonsolin threw 88 pitches with 56 of them for strikes, which was an improvement from his last outing when he threw 94 pitches over five innings.
The Dodgers went on to lose in walk-off fashion, but they still took the series from the Braves, which was an impressive accomplishment in itself with two rookies starting during that span.
On the season, the Gonsolin holds a 1.82 ERA across 29.2 innings with a 0.91 WHIP and 23 strikeouts. The 2022 All-Star’s next outing will likely come against the Washington Nationals, where he will continue looking to build on his strong season.
Tony Gonsolin gaining confidence
Gonsolin appears to be fully past his ankle injury that delayed the beginning of his season and he has seen an uptick in his velocity in his previous few starts since he first returned.
“I definitely feel great health-wise,” Gonsolin recently said. “I feel good and I’m building more confidence every day. Just trusting that everything is working.”
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