Tony Gonsolin turned in another strong performance for the Los Angeles Dodgers as he out-pitched Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Brunes, who won the 2021 National League Cy Young Award and has continued that success into 2022.
Although Gonsolin pitched just five innings, he only allowed one run on three hits while Burnes allowed seven runs in 3.2 innings to drop out of the top five among NL ERA leaders.
Following the outing, Gonsolin now leads the NL in wins (16), ERA (2.10), batting average against (.169) and WHIP (0.86). However, he isn’t putting much focus into his impressive season.
“I mean, I know it’s happening,” Gonsolin said. “Try not to get ahead of myself and take it one outing at a time. Goal is to throw my bullpen in between now and the next outing and get a little bit better and we’ll see what happens.”
With 16 wins, Gonsolin is tied with the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander, which has him in position to become MLB’s first 20-game winner this year. But like with his season overall, the 28-year-old isn’t focused on personal accomplishments.
“I just try to go out there and give our team a chance to win,” Gonsolin said. “On my side of the ball, try not to give up too many runs. These guys have done a really good job of hitting and playing great defense, so it’s been pretty fortunate with all that.”
If Gonsolin can finish the year strong, he’ll have chance to win his first Cy Young Award and become the first Dodgers pitcher to do so since Clayton Kershaw in 2014.
The Dodgers have a long history of Cy Young winners, beginning with Don Newcombe for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956, and 11 more since the team moved to Los Angeles in 1958. The opportunity to join a historic group in the franchise record books is within his grasp, but Gonsolin is still just focused on the team’s ultimate goal.
“I feel like our team goal is to get that championship at the end of the year,” he reiterated. “So just trying to go out there and do our job every time.”
Gonsolin not worried about career high in innings
With every start, Gonsolin sets a new career high in innings pitched and currently is at 128.1 this season. His previous career high was 55.2 at the Major League level, but he did reach 128 during the 2018 season with the Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and Double-A Tulsa Drillers.
Despite Gonsolin’s workload, he isn’t feeling any fatigue. However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has previously indicated it’s going to be a challenge for the team to monitor his workload.
That was a factor in removing the right-hander at just 77 pitches over five innings on Tuesday.
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