Prior to Sunday’s game, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts dismissed any concern over Adrian Gonzalez and his sluggish, albeit in a small sample size, return from the 10-day disabled list. “His timing is a little off,” Roberts said.
“Just his presence in the lineup means a lot to us. He’ll get it going. He’s got his strength back, his extension is there.” Sure enough, Gonzalez went on to carry the Dodgers in the series finale against the Miami Marlins.
He finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI in the 6-3 victory. The multi-double game was Gonzalez’s first since April 23. With one double, he had his first extra-base hit since April 25.
What’s more, the three-hit game was Gonzalez’s first since Aug. 22, 2016. For the veteran first baseman, the results were simply a byproduct of health.
“My body is definitely better,” Gonzalez said. “I told you guys all along as long as my body feels good, I was going to come back. The first two games it was trying to get back into the rhythm, [Sunday] I felt good.”
Affected and limited by back and forearm trouble since Spring Training, Gonzalez hit .255/.327/.309 with a .284 wOBA and 76 wRC+ through 29 games. Gonzalez’s .635 on-base plus slugging percentage at the time of landing on the disabled list was on pace to be the lowest mark of his career.
The DL stint was a first for Gonzalez, who appeared in 1,833 games before ultimately going inactive. “As long as I’m healthy and my back holds up, everything is going to be fine,” he said.
“When my back and legs weaken, there’s not much else I can do other than try to fight through it. Fighting through is not a good recipe, which I found out the hard way.”
Sunday’s performance was in line with what Gonzalez has done throughout his career. That was not lost on Brandon McCarthy, who held the Marlins to one run over six innings.
“We all know how good he is,” McCarthy said. “At his best, he’s a tremendous pain in the [expletive] for other people. He does exactly what he did [Sunday], takes balls all over the plate and drives them all over the yard and runs score. We certainly would like to have him going full steam.”
Gonzalez anticipates that to be the case moving forward. “The way I see it is,” he began, “the first game I came back was the start of my season.”
