The Los Angeles Dodgers started the 2025 season with several pitchers on the injured list, but Tony Gonsolin and Evan Phillips are the two who appear closest to returning.
Gonsolin was put on the 15-day IL with back tightness after tweaking it back during a weight-lifting session in Spring Training. Meanwhile, Phillips has continued to work through with issues deriving from a right rotator cuff strain that kept him off the Dodgers’ World Series roster.
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The pair threw to live hitters at Dodger Stadium on Friday and are now trending toward beginning respective rehab assignments over the course of the next “handful of days.”
“They look good. They look both look good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Tony, my assumption would be he’d be on a regular starting program. So it’d be the sixth day, probably he’ll go and throw three innings somewhere. And then Evan will probably do the same thing again in a handful of days, something like that.”
Phillips told DodgerBlue.com he is doing “really well” after facing hitters and that his body has been recovering and bouncing back as hoped after each throwing session.
Gonsolin was in contention for the fifth spot in the Dodgers’ rotation prior to his back injury, and that has now been taken by Dustin May. It is unclear what the Dodgers’ plan will be for Gonsolin once he is ready to be activated from the injured list.
Phillips was in attendance for the Dodgers ring ceremony at Dodger Stadium, but is returning to Camelback Ranch for the time being to continue his rehab.
Shohei Ohtani resumes pitching program
Also on the pitching front, Ohtani is scheduled to throw bullpen session Saturday, which will mark his first since Feb. 25 as part of an intentional delay to prepare him for the Tokyo Series.
The team had previously stated that they were not going to utilize a six-man rotation until Shohei Ohtani was ready to return to the mound, which the Dodgers estimated would be around May. But the delay in Ohtani’s buildup muddies the waters, and may open the door for Gonsolin to slot in for the time being.
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