Tony Gonsolin was in a familiar position on Sunday afternoon as the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen again needed a starter to pitch deep into a game to alleviate the burden that’s been placed on them of late.
Like his last time out, Gonsolin answered the bell and went six innings. He effectively relied on a splitter mixed with his fastball and slider, along with an occasional curveball. It marked the first time in Gonsolin’s career that he completed six innings in back-to-back starts.
The Phillies’ only managed three hits — one of which was a Garrett Stubbs solo homer — and Gonsolin finished with seven strikeouts.
Following the Dodgers’ walk-off loss in extra inning, Gonsolin said no longer battling right shoulder trouble has allowed him to generate momentum with each start, via SportsNet LA:
“Yeah, absolutely. Right when I’m done with a game, everything is focused on recovery and what’s going to best help me prepare for the next start.”
Overall this season, the right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.62 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Along with being healthy, Gonsolin has seemingly benefitted from having a set role in the Dodgers’ starting rotation since Opening Day.
His consistency should prove key for L.A. while they await the respective returns of Andrew Heaney and Clayton Kershaw.
Gonsolin learning from Kershaw
In effort to be more efficient and in turn pitch deeper into starts, Gonsolin revealed he’s sought advice from Kershaw.
“I’ve just been trying to get some early contact,” Gonsolin recently explained. “Talked with Kersh a lot about how to go deeper into games, what works and what doesn’t work, and trying to figure out a way that works for me. … Mainly just being able to throw offspeed stuff for strikes and throwing a lot of strikes.
“Not throwing non-competitive pitches, figuring out what pitch works for me to get weak contact early in counts.”
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