Tony Gonsolin is getting closer to making his season debut. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Gonsolin got through a 30-plus pitch bullpen session today (relayed by Juan Toribio of MLB.com). Gonsolin will begin a rehab stint with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, with the expectation he’ll throw around four innings.
Gonsolin is rehabbing from an ankle sprain he suffered midway through Spring Training. Roberts indicated he’d need at least two rehab starts before he’s ready to head back to the MLB rotation. That could position him for a return towards the tail end of next week. That’d be a very welcome development, as Gonsolin worked to a 2.14 ERA through 130 1/3 innings in an All-Star season last year.
Ryan Pepiot had been expected to take Gonsolin’s rotation spot out of the gate. Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, he suffered an oblique strain at the end of Spring Training. It appears he’s a ways off, as Roberts said the righty is still limited to plyometric work and hasn’t yet started throwing (via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). While the return timetable isn’t clear, it’s apparent that Pepiot’s progress has been slower than initially hoped.
L.A. has turned to Michael Grove with Gonsolin and Pepiot out of action. The West Virginia product was hit hard in his first two starts of the season before a strong showing on Saturday. He allowed just one run with six strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings in a win over the Cubs. Even that solid work still brought Grove to a 9.00 ERA in 13 frames this season.
The Dodgers were dealt a hit on the position player side last week. Catcher Will Smith landed on the concussion injured list retroactive to April 13. That only contains a minimum stint of seven days, meaning Smith could return as early as Thursday. The star backstop attributed the injury to a series of recent foul tips off the mask (link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). Smith said he’d proceed with understandable caution given the nature of the injury but noted that he’s already working out and plans to travel with the club on their road trip spanning April 20-27.
It seems he’s on track to return without a rehab stint if all goes well, perhaps not long after he’s first eligible. The Dodgers signed Austin Wynns to a major league deal to back up Austin Barnes while Smith is out. Wynns has exhausted his minor league option years, so his stay on the 40-man roster may prove brief if the Dodgers don’t plan to carry three catchers once Smith makes his return.
They have no better catching options in the minors?????
It’s for 2 days so why bother calling someone up and risking them on waivers. They don’t care about wynns so he’s perfectly expendable.
They could have added their 25 yr old AAA Catcher Hunter Feduccia to their 40 man roster, and they could have just optioned him back down to AAA whenever Smith was ready to come back.
Wynns required a 40 man roster spot, he’s just out of options, that’s why they’re going to have to waive him whenever they drop him.
If he isn’t claimed, it’ll be interesting to see if Wynns stays with the Dodgers and accepts being outrighted to AAA..
I’m guessing it was more likely that Feduccia got off to a hot start, and they didn’t want to yo-yo him up and down. Plus, they didn’t want to have to permanently use up that 40-man roster spot by giving it to someone that would clearly be sticking around for this season.
Anyone know if I’m off-base with my line of thinking?? Or did I miss something??
Definitely just a 40 man issue. They don’t want to use a 40 man spot on Feduccia until they’re sure he can contribute regularly so they don’t burn his options. Wynns is a known quantity that they’ll have no problem waiving when Smith is ready to return.
They shouldn’t call up Fedducia unless they’re not confident of managing their own earnings.
The Dodgers’ time as a dominant (regular season) team is over and they never even got a single real World Series title out of it.
Don’t be daft.
I’m pretty sure that piece of metal looks just like all the other World Series trophies in the case where it’s displayed.
And I am sure if your team had won in 2020, they would have rejected the trophy and you would have been ALL for that.
Why did any of the teams bother playing in 2020, then?
I don’t have a team and the 2020 ‘season’ shouldn’t have been played at all.
Trolling on a MLB trade rumors sight? Sad.
A lost opportunity from 2017 to 2022 for the Dodgers. Where have you gone Walter Alston & Buzzi Buvasi?
I believe in Friedman but my confidence is certainly waivering right now. What direction are they going? They didn’t reset their cap number and they’re obviously not competitive this season. They’re staff is like Swiss cheese, the bullpen has no solid lefty option and they’re relying on rookies to keep them afloat. Is Urias staying? If they’re going to let him walk then trade him now, get something and reset. Turner(s), Anderson, Haney, Martin, Kahnle all departed and not much replaced them. It’s been pretty frustrating watching this all unfold since they were unceremoniously bounced by the Padres.
Urias is gone after this season- they have tried to resign him and he has shown zero interest in remaining with the Dodgers. They have also tried to resign Buehler, with similar results.
Friedman gave them a helluva team for a few years. At what point do you question the manager? Seems as if Roberts has not exactly helped the situation…a good mgr may have at least one more ring w all those players.
He should stop putting the corpse of Jason Heyward in games, for 1. The Yankees “pioneered” the trend of constantly signing washed-up has beens who have basically zero chance of contributing anything to the team, and the Dodgers have spent the past 10+ seasons doing their best to copy that trend. Case in point: Heyward, Syndergaard, etc.
Heyward was never the same after he took that fastball to the face as a Brave.
Come to think of it, Giancarlo’s skittish woes started with a Spaulding scalding as well.
Stanton hit 59 homers in a single season and won an MVP after getting hit in the face
Delayed reaction?
The situation with Bauer screwed them over hard. Since they had to wait to see about his BS, they couldn’t spend. IMO his contract should have been able to be voided based on everything.
Feduccia should be called up if he’s hitting anywhere near this by June at the latest. Barnes bat is anemic and Hunter could serve as a backup, lefty option while Barnes serves as third catcher, last string 2B and bench/pitching game coach. I know they want Hunter getting AB’s but he could be learning behind Smith and Barnes this season while facing Dodgers pitchers in live BP. If Feduccia stays, LA can move Austin after the seasoh. Clevland would probably love to have him back up Naylor in 2024 or Milwaukee could pair him with Contreras.