The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system has been among the best in baseball in recent years, consistently developing top prospects like Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger into Major League All-Stars.
They also have been able to maintain a strong farm system despite trading away notable prospects at the deadline just about every year, which is a testament to the organization’s scouting and development departments.
One prospect who has opened a lot of eyes this season is right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who was a ninth-round pick of the Dodgers in 2016 out of St. Mary’s.
Gonsolin recently sat down with DodgerBlue.com to discuss a multitude of topics, including how he felt when he first found out that he got drafted just over two years ago.
“I got a call in like the seventh round for Tom Kunis, who’s the area scout for Northern California,” Gonsolin said. “And he was like, ‘Yeah, we’re looking to take you here shortly, we’ll see what happens.’ Nothing set in stone obviously, and then eighth round went through and I thought that would be my round, maybe I’ll go right now, but it was someone else.
“So I checked to see who they picked in the ninth round out the draft tracker and I saw my name and I was driving back with one of my friends from a baseball workout and I was just like, ‘Oh wow, that’s my name.’ He was driving and I just showed it to him and we were both just ecstatic.”
Gonsolin was a standout at St. Mary’s, playing both outfield and pitching, which is something that he hoped he would be able to do as a professional as well. “Best case scenario, I would have been able to do both,” he said.
“But I kind of knew that you have to pick one or the other in order to really focus on that and hone your skills, I guess.”
After talking with scouts though, it quickly became apparent that his calling card would be as a pitcher.
“I didn’t feel comfortable making that decision for myself because I think I always saw myself as a hitter throughout high school and college, but I didn’t really want to take pitching off the table,” Gonsolin explained.
“Basically every scout that I talked to during my junior and senior year of college was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to put you in as a pitcher, and I think your stuff looks like you have a brighter future pitching than hitting,’ so I was like ‘I mean, whatever you guys want, I’m just looking for the opportunity to play professional ball and take the next step.'”
That has turned out to be the right decision as Gonsolin worked his way up the Minor League ranks after a strong 2017 season between Low-A Great Lakes and High-A Rancho Cucamonga in which he primarily served as a closer.
The organization decided to try him out as a starter in 2018, and that has done wonders for the right-hander. In 23 starts between Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa, the 24-year-old is 8-2 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.14 WHIP with an impressive 144 strikeouts compared to just 33 walks in 115.2 innings.
Being both a reliever and starter in his career, Gonsolin is taking the right mentality regardless of which role he plays moving forward. “I don’t really have a preference, I’m just trying to do my best to help out the team trying to win and eat up innings whether it’s starting or out of the ‘pen,” he said. “I’m just trying to do the best that I can do.”
With the Major League non-waiver trade deadline recently passing, Gonsolin’s name was involved in some rumors, although he wound up sticking around in the Dodgers organization.
“I think those rumors start and it’s like, OK, those three people leave, and I’m really good friends with one of them and I know that other two obviously, so it’s like, that would suck,” he said.
“But it’s also a good opportunity for anyone that gets traded. I think we’re all just trying to view it as a good thing, we’re gonna get into another organization where we can make a name for ourselves and hopefully move up the ranks a little quicker than here because we have a lot of good people in this organization.”
The Dodgers certainly value their No. 14 prospect, as ranked by MLB.com. Reaching the Majors as early as next season is not out of the question for Gonsolin, which is something that motivates him now more than ever.
“I think for me personally it’s not so much about where I’m at,” he said. “The end goal and the dream is always to play in the big leagues. So I think that’s my motivator whether I was in Rancho or Tulsa or at Triple-A or if I was in Great Lakes.
“I don’t think it really matters for me. It’s my dream and I’m going to do everything I can to get there”
