Michael Grove is scheduled to start in place of Tony Gonsolin on Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Seattle Mariners at Camelback Ranch.
Gonsolin sprained his left ankle during a workout on Monday and the Dodgers plan to exercise caution to ensure he makes a full recovery before getting back into Cactus League action. Manager Dave Roberts hasn’t expressed any concern about Gonsolin’s availability as he remains on a day-to-day moving forward.
The 28-year-old has made just one start this spring, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings, surrendering three hits while notching two strikeouts against the Los Angeles Angels. After signing a two-year, $6.65 million contract, a large chunk of Gonsolin’s salary escalators are dependent on the number of starts and length of appearances he makes.
After a career-best 24 starts in 2022, Gonsolin began to slow down in the latter parts of the season after being one of the best starters in all of baseball during the first half.
Meanwhile, Grove has thrown three innings and struck out three over two Cactus League starts thus far. His only blemish came in the form of a solo home run allowed in a start against the Milwaukee Brewers in the Dodgers’ first Spring Training game.
The Dodgers’ 23rd-ranked prospect has an outside shot of breaking camp with the club if he’s able to make enough of an impression to earn the final spot in the starting rotation.
“The more you see him, the more you like,” Roberts recently said of Grove. “He makes pitches when he needs to, he’s a great competitor and he’s worked hard to clean the delivery up and consistency of throw.”
Noah Syndergaard making strides
After the Dodgers earned an 8-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday, a lot of the talk was around Noah Syndergaard and his progression to where he and the club want him to be. In his first start last week, Syndergaard’s fastball velocity hovered around 92-93 mph, and it increased to 94 mph in a second appearance.
Syndergaard threw three perfect innings against the Padres, collecting two strikeouts along the way. Earlier this spring the righty noted that with some minor changes to his delivery, he could possibly unlock a bit more of the velocity he was known for in his early years with the New York Mets prior to a string of injuries.
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