A rash of injuries in the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation prompted the team to activate Tony Gonsolin off the 15-day injured list after just one outing on his rehab assignment.
Gonsolin had seven strikeouts and threw 57 pitches (35 strikes) over three-plus innings while allowing just one hit and issuing two walks in the rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City last week. The lone hit he allowed was a two-run homer.
The Dodgers planned to have Gonsolin make at least one more rehab start but shifted their approach when Michael Grove went on the 15-day IL because of a right groin strain. That left Gonsolin to step in and face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
He pitched into the fourth inning and didn’t allow a run, but wasn’t pleased with the number of balls he threw (39 of 65 pitches), via SportsNet LA:
“I threw way too many balls today. Just not throwing very many effective pitches and falling behind in a lot of counts.”
As for still needing to stretch out in his return from a sprained left ankle, Gonsolin dismissed that as having any impact on performance:
“Not necessarily thinking about building up at all. Just going out there and trying to throw as long as I can. I just need to throw more strikes.”
Gonsolin retired the side in order in the first inning and worked around a walk in the second. He ran into trouble the next inning as the Pirates put two on and Gonsolin’s pitch count began to swell.
However, he benefitted from an inning-ending double play, which allowed Gonsolin to begin the fourth inning. He recorded an out before giving up a single and walking Jack Suwinski. Phil Bickford stranded both inherited runners to give Gonsolin a scoreless start.
Tony Gonsolin addressed pitching mechanics
Although his 2023 debut wasn’t necessarily indicative of it, Gonsolin recently noted the prolonged period recovering from the sprained left ankle allowed him to work on his mechanics.
“I started to create a little bad habit with landing,” Gonsolin explained. “The arm action was a little weird, the timing of the throw was a little weird. So got with Mark Prior and C-Mac (Connor McGuiness), and they saw it immediately. They’re like, ‘Hey, man, if you’re going to throw, you need to do it the right way.’
“So it’s a blessing in a way that I was able to correct some of the mechanical stuff or feel like I’ve corrected some of the mechanical stuff.”
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