Gonsolin's goal? Going the distance for Dodgers

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Tony Gonsolin may be coming off a 16-1 season, but the Dodgers right-hander feels like he left a lot on the table in 2022.

Gonsolin went 11-0 with a 2.02 ERA in the first half and made his first All-Star team, but a right forearm strain in August cost him the rest of the regular season. He returned to start Game 3 of the National League Division Series, only to be knocked out by the Padres in the second inning. The Dodgers were eliminated the next day, and Gonsolin’s dream season went out with a whimper.

“Yeah, it sucked. I feel like I [got cut short] back-to-back years in 2021 and '22,” said Gonsolin, whose 2021 season was interrupted by a right shoulder injury. “That was last year. I’m trying to put that past me. I got over it fairly quickly in the offseason. [I’ll] just go out there and focus on this year.

“The goal this year is to go wall to wall, go from start to finish. Leave the results out of it. Whatever they are, they are. Just go out there and try to do my best.”

The Dodgers’ rotation is already down Walker Buehler, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, so they’ll need Gonsolin to lock down the third spot behind Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw as they try to bounce back from a disappointing playoff exit following their 111-win first-place finish in the NL West.

Manager Dave Roberts thinks Gonsolin is more prepared to handle a bigger workload and stay healthy throughout this season.

“It’s one of those things that you learn as the years go on and the players continue to play,” Roberts said. “So now we built up a foundation of what he can expect of himself and what we can expect. He was an All-Star last year. We expect him to post and make starts and be good.”

Gonsolin, who struck out two and scattered three hits over 2 1/3 scoreless innings during his Cactus League debut in Friday’s 2-2 tie with the Angels, will continue to stretch out over the next few weeks.

“I thought Tony was good. I thought the ball was coming out OK,” Roberts said. “The main thing for us was getting him to the third inning and we did that. … I thought his breaking ball, the split change was really good, and getting him built up was a good thing.”

Last spring, Gonsolin wasn’t sure whether he’d have a regular rotation spot or work in more of a swing role. This year, he was able to build his offseason program around getting ready to fill a rotation role from Day 1.

“I didn’t know what my workload was going to be last year, coming off of '21 being hurt most of the year, and then we had the lockout and all that stuff,” Gonsolin said. “So not being fully built up coming into a new spring, short spring. Having last year be what it was, [as opposed to] having this offseason be what it was -- a full offseason and a normal Spring Training -- it’s been pretty nice.”

Under the lights
The Dodgers played their first night game of the Cactus League season on Saturday, beating the Royals, 7-6, at Surprise Stadium. Some highlights:

• Dodgers No. 9 prospect James Outman went 2-for-3 with his first Cactus League homer. The 25-year-old is hitting .455 this spring.

• Jason Heyward hit his second spring homer, taking Jackson Kowar deep in the fifth inning.

• Dodgers No. 6 prospect Ryan Pepiot started and allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts in two innings.

“That was good. A lot of good pitches. Those guys did a good job battling,” Pepiot said. “I threw a lot of good ones, I was hoping they’d swing and miss or put it in play, but overall threw a lot of strikes, battled through some counts and then walked away with just one run [allowed].”