Tony Gonsolin made his third start of the season on Wednesday and it ended up being his most effective one as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-1 in the rubber match of the series at Dodger Stadium.
Gonsolin didn’t allow a run over six innings while striking out three, which added onto the right-hander’s scoreless streak that now sits at 12 innings.
“Really efficient, inducing three double plays, which was huge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “Used his fastball the right way and his breaking stuff was on. He did a heck of a job.”
Along with holding the Braves scoreless, Gonsolin also kept them hitless for the first five innings of the game, but completing that wasn’t a focus of his, via via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“It’s just whatever,” Gonsolin said of carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. “It’s just going out there, trying to execute every pitch and whatever happens happens. It’s there. But it’s whatever.”
While Gonsolin has had three solid starts now, it is intriguing his most effective one came as he debuted a new pitch sequencing strategy.
The start was his first where Gonsolin threw his slider as his primary pitch, using it 41% of the time, while he went to his fastball at a 30% rate and his split-finger changeup 25% of the time.
The 27-year-old also only threw his fastball in the strike zone 32% of the time when he used it. In his previous two starts, the heater was in the strike zone at a 75% and 50% rate. His slider also went from being in the zone at a 25% rate to a 40% rate in that start.
After the game, Roberts said Gonsolin is most effective when he isn’t keeping his fastball in the zone because it allows him to attack with his secondary pitches and keep hitters off balance.
“I think it’s the mindset of, although it’s softer, you can still be aggressive with it in the zone,” Roberts said. “He did that was down below the zone with his breaking ball when he needed to, but keeping guys honest with the fastball.”
Dodgers needed innings from Gonsolin
With Andrew Heaney going on the 10-day injured list, Tyler Anderson will replace him in the rotation for at least one start. Anderson, however, was previously following Gonsolin and pitching four innings each time out.
Without the extra innings covered from Anderson, the Dodgers needed Gonsolin to go deeper into the game. Roberts said he his initial expectation was Gonsolin to pitch five innings as a progression from going three and four in his prior starts.
“It was great. Obviously with Tony not only preventing runs, but being able to take down a big portion of the game,” Roberts said. “Now where we’re at and knowing we built him up, you don’t necessarily need that piggyback anymore. He can be a conventional starter, which is great.”
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