Well-rested Gonsolin turns in best '23 start so far

LOS ANGELES -- Given the state of the Dodgers’ pitching staff, the club is going to need its best starters to step up in what is shaping out to be a crucial time in the regular season.

One of the pitchers the Dodgers will lean on most is right-hander Tony Gonsolin, who took another step in his development last season as a first-time All-Star but has struggled to find consistency in 2023.

In the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the White Sox on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, Gonsolin looked more like the pitcher L.A. grew accustomed to seeing last season, allowing two hits and striking out six over six scoreless innings.

“He’s going to be huge,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “He’s an All-Star pitcher. So when he’s right and he’s healthy, he’s as good as anyone.”

There was some level of concern surrounding Gonsolin before his start on Tuesday, however. Gonsolin wasn’t bouncing back during his in-between start routine. Gonsolin called it “weird” and couldn’t necessarily pinpoint why he experienced some fatigue and soreness following his previous start.

But in order to protect against yet another Gonsolin injury, the Dodgers utilized Monday’s off-day to give him a few additional days of rest. That worked wonders for Gonsolin.

“I think the extra couple days really helped me,” Gonsolin said. “For whatever reason, I just didn’t come out of this last start super great. I was fortunate enough to have the extra days. I think it showed today that they were very useful.”

Gonsolin needed 19 pitches to get through the first inning, but he was able to settle down shortly after. He didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, when Andrew Vaughn lined a one-out single into left field. Gonsolin got into a two-on jam when he proceeded to hit Jake Burger with a pitch, but he escaped by getting Yasmani Grandal to ground out to second to end the inning.

“He just mixed really well,” said Dodgers catcher Will Smith. “Mixed his curveball, changeup, spotted his fastball, slider as well. Just making pitches. They were chasing a little bit and took advantage, and overall, he got a bunch of soft contact, ground balls, weak flyouts, some strikeouts.”

Gonsolin had most of his success with the splitter, recording seven of his nine swings and misses with the pitch. If there was one concerning part of Gonsolin’s outing, though, it was that his velocity was down across the board.

“It is what it is. I don’t know. It wasn’t that bad,” Gonsolin said. “I don’t think it was as low as you’re saying it is. But it worked.”

Contrary to what Gonsolin said, the velocity on his four-seamer was down 1.4 mph from his season average, which is also down from his velo last season. The splitter was down 1.3 mph from his season average, while his curveball and slider were 0.9 mph slower. In the middle innings, Gonsolin’s velocity did spike up a couple of ticks.

“It’s interesting, because he says as the game keeps going, he feels stronger and stronger, and the velocity speaks to that,” Roberts said. “The secondary [stuff] still had teeth to it. And also, even with the 90 mph fastball at times in the first three innings, they were still late on it because he was sequencing so well.”

Behind Gonsolin, Los Angeles got all the offense it needed in the first inning via two-run homers from Smith -- who continues to add to his All-Star resume -- and David Peralta. It helped get the Dodgers back in the win column after a 2-4 road trip through Cincinnati and Philadelphia.

Still, the Dodgers will go as far as their starting pitching takes them as they try to work their way out of this mini-rough patch. And on Tuesday, Gonsolin delivered his best start of the season.

“I still think, as a whole, we’re doing a nice job managing the workload,” Roberts said. “And to see him wanting more each outing, that’s what we want to see.”