Tony Gonsolin makes his 2021 debut on Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates after spending the first two months of the season on the injured list. The Los Angeles Dodgers placed Gonsolin on the 10-day IL in early April, then transferred him to the 60-day in the middle of May.
Gonsolin was bothered by right shoulder inflammation, which surfaced at the end of Spring Training. “I thought it was just normal soreness,” he said. “I hadn’t really felt sore before that, so I thought I just had a little soreness or whatever.
“Tried to throw on it and it was really acting up during that. Then it just kind of got a little worse from there and felt a lot more uncomfortable.”
Gonsolin now feels healthy and ready to return after completing a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
“Physically, I feel good,” Gonsolin said. “I’m ready to get out there and get my first outing of 2021 underway. Trying to attack guys, be confident and do the best I could.”
Although the right-hander only stretched out to 3.2 innings and 60 pitches, he doesn’t anticipate being limited in the second game of the series against the Pirates.
“I’m good for whatever. Personally, I’m feeling good,” Gonsolin said. “I haven’t hand an outing where I felt like I was getting tired, so that’s definitely a positive. So whatever Doc needs me for [Wednesday], I’m ready to take that task.”
Last season, Gonsolin threw 46.2 innings for the Dodgers and posted a 2.31 ERA and 2.29 FIP. This year, he wants to be more aggressive in the strike zone.
“Just go out there and attack,” Gonsolin explained. “Get strike one, try to get some early outs, try to be efficient and see what happens.”
Above all else, after spending time away from the team to rehab, Gonsolin is now happy to be back. “First couple weeks after I got hurt, it was OK,” he said.
“I still felt part of the team and there was a little section there towards the later half of the rehab — kind of during my buildup process — where I felt a little disconnected from the team. I didn’t really talk to much of those guys. It’s good to be back in the clubhouse, talking to them every day and hanging out with them.”
Gonsolin connected with fellow injured Dodgers
Gonsolin said relievers Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Kahnle were with him at Camelback Ranch, which helped the mundane nature that can come with rehabbing from an injury.
“I hadn’t had much experience with Tommy, so I got to know him a little bit better,” Gonsolin said. “And we had a lot of guys roll through there, so it was good to see their faces again, have little conversations. The circumstances were unfortunate, obviously, but it was cool to see them. It helped me feel a little bit more connected to the team.”
Ferguson and Kahnle are both recovering from Tommy John Surgery.
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