Tony Gonsolin opened the season on the 15-day injured list after suffering a sprained left ankle while walking off the field during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch.
That put the Los Angeles Dodgers in need of a fifth starter in their rotation.
The spot originally went to Ryan Pepiot, but after a left oblique strain, it was Michael Grove who was placed on the Dodgers Opening Day roster and in the rotation. Grove is expected to make multiple starts while Gonsolin recovers.
In the meantime, Gonsolin has been going through drills and completing bullpen sessions. The next step is for the 28-year-old to face hitters, which he remains on track to begin doing Wednesday at Camelback Ranh.
“Really good. Few days ago, he did an up-down and today he did the same thing,” Roberts said about Gonsolin’s latest bullpen session on Sunday. “I think he was close to 40 pitches, all of his pitches. Was really impressive.
“[Saturday], took some ground balls for PFPs, so that was good. And did some running. Wednesday, he’ll go to CBR and face some hitters, which will be the next test. And then we’ll see where we go from there.”
Due to the injury, Gonsolin only made one start in Cactus League play, so he needs roughly a month to build his arm up. The Dodgers originally believed the ankle sprain would be a short-term injury, but the recovery process set Gonsolin back further than expected.
When will Tony Gonsolin return?
The Dodgers are hopeful Gonsolin will return from the IL near the end of April, but he’ll likely need to first go on a Minor League rehab assignment.
Gonsolin is looking to build on last season when he went 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA and 0.87 WHIP over 24 starts while earning a first career All-Star Game selection.
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