What are Dodgers doing to reverse Tony Gonsolin's struggles?

Tony Gonsolin walks back to the mound after giving up a two-run home run to Houston's Jose Abreu.

Sports Columnist

June 25, 2023 10:01 PM PT

This is what it has come to for the Dodgers’ rotation as June winds down:

Throw somebody — anybody and sometimes any bodies — out there four times, and on the fifth day wait for Clayton Kershaw to rescue the Dodgers.

It’s not a formula for long-term success. But it’s how they’ve had to operate lately, with injuries forcing them to dig deep into their farm system and the recent ineffectiveness of 2022 All-Star Tony Gonsolin threatening to become a problem.

The Dodgers needed a better version of Gonsolin than they got Sunday against Houston. He wasn’t precise, wasn’t commanding enough in a five-inning, 61-pitch outing. He wasn’t involved in the decision in their 6-5, 11-inning loss to the Astros, who were booed as lustily as ever by fans at Dodger Stadium, but he put his team in a 4-1 hole by leaving splitters for Jeremy Peña, with a runner on base in the second inning, and Jose Abreu, also with a man on in the fourth inning, to each launch 400-plus feet.

A day after they had overcome a late four-run deficit to upend the Astros, the Dodgers rallied for three runs in the eighth Sunday — a flurry highlighted by Freddie Freeman’s 2,000th career hit — and absolved Gonsolin of the loss. They rallied again in the 10th to pull even at 5-5, but reliever Yency Almonte gave up a single to score placed runner Mauricio Dubon in the top of the 11th, and the Dodgers ran out of comebacks, ending their winning streak at four.

Despite the loss, the Dodgers won two out of three from the defending World Series champions, and manager Dave Roberts said the team is “in a much better spot” than it was a week ago. That fueled his optimism as the Dodgers prepared for a trip to Denver for a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. “I feel we’ve got some momentum,” he said. “We’ve got Clayton going on Tuesday and feel good about that.”

But what about every other day?

Los Angeles, CA, Sunday, June 25, 2023 - Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin.

Kershaw alone can’t carry the Dodgers, who are 9-11 in June and stand third in the NL West, three games behind Arizona and a half-game behind San Francisco. Gonsolin should be carrying more of the load than he has lifted, especially this month. In four June starts, he has a 5.82 ERA. That won’t cut it.

He acknowledged the obvious in saying he wasn’t sharp Sunday, but he couldn’t pinpoint the reasons beyond not thinking his stuff was very good. He’s searching for answers beyond improving his velocity, though that would help, too. He said his velocity might be down “a tick every now and then,” but that’s not his main concern.

“I feel like I just catch myself trying to nibble too much and stop attacking guys and fall behind the counts and then kind of give them a good pitch to hit,” said Gonsolin, who gave up seven runs to the Giants over 5 2/3 innings in his previous start, last Sunday.

“I feel like I pride myself on getting outs with people on base, and I haven’t been able to do that the last couple. So I’ve got to figure it out before the next one.”

He can’t figure it out fast enough. “I think we’re always kind of searching and trying to figure out what we can do,” Roberts said, “but he’s a guy we certainly count on to go deeper in a game.”

Gonsolin said he felt fine and didn’t want to come out after five innings. He wasn’t overworked: He gave up one walk and recorded three strikeouts among those 61 pitches, 40 of them strikes.

“I told Doc [Roberts] I’m ready to go and he just thought it was time. I kind of agree,” Gonsolin said. “My stuff didn’t look very great today. It didn’t look very sharp. But I wanted to keep going and stay in.”

He wasn’t going to win that argument. “It just didn’t seem like today his stuff had a whole lot of teeth,” Roberts said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of strikeouts, swing and miss, and it just seemed like they were kind of finding ways to put the ball in play.

“I just felt with the top of the lineup coming again, I just felt giving them a different look gives us the best chance to keep the game in hand and give us a chance to win a ballgame. So I think it’s one of those things. It’s been a grind for him.”

Roberts said he’s not sure where the problem lies for Gonsolin. “There’s been some starts where the slider’s been really sharp. Just the last couple starts he’s been throwing that split again versus the straight change. His curveball wasn’t really particularly sharp today but as far as overall, I don’t know that answer.”

The question becomes how can Roberts continue to piece together the rotation and keep the Dodgers afloat until some of their injured players are whole again.

Julio Urías (hamstring strain) made a rehab start for Class A Rancho Cucamonga on Sunday and could be close to returning; when he’s healthy, he’d rejoin the rotation with Kerhsaw, Gonsolin, and rookies Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan. Miller made his big league debut May 23 and Sheehan debuted June 16.

Roberts had said before Sunday’s game that he felt “really good” about Gonsolin because he had gotten extra rest since his previous start, but that feeling wasn’t an accurate predictor. But Roberts said he still has faith in Gonsolin.

“I have all the confidence in the world that the next one, you’re going to see more of what we’re expecting from him,” Roberts said.

If not, hey, there’s always Kershaw. And then pray for rain.