Gonsolin still struggling to tap into next gear for Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- Whether he can achieve that level of success again is up for debate, but Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin set quite the bar for himself last season.

Gonsolin went 16-1 in 2022, and his 2.14 ERA would’ve led the National League had he thrown enough innings to be a qualified starter. That level of success turned Gonsolin into an All-Star for the first time and a strong presence in the Dodgers’ rotation.

This season, however, Gonsolin hasn’t been able to reach anywhere near that level. In the Dodgers’ 8-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium, Gonsolin suffered yet another poor start, allowing five runs on seven hits over just five innings of work.

While Gonsolin has struggled to find any consistency since returning from the injured list in May, his last seven starts amount to one of the worst stretches of his career. With the five earned runs given up on Wednesday, Gonsolin has now allowed four or more runs in six of his last seven outings. His ERA during that span is 7.25.

“Yeah, results have sucked,” Gonsolin said. “They’ve been what they are. But I’m just trying to stay with the process.”

Wednesday’s outing started off well for Gonsolin, who has seen his velocity on the four-seamer go up over his last two starts. He retired the first three batters he faced with relative ease. That was about the only easy inning of his outing.

The Blue Jays got to Gonsolin for one run in the second, and it could’ve been more had it not been for a heads-up play by Freddie Freeman to secure a double play. Toronto scored a second run in the third. Through three innings, Gonsolin was already at 62 pitches.

Two innings later, despite how the outing looked, Gonsolin had a chance to limit the damage and allow just two runs over five innings. But after getting ahead 0-2 in the count against Whit Merrifield, Gonsolin threw a hanging splitter that landed in the middle of the zone and the Blue Jays’ left fielder didn’t miss it, smacking a three-run homer that served as the dagger.

“As far as right now where he’s at, there’s just that next gear that he can tap into,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I don’t know if it’s a mindset thing, I don’t know if it’s a fatigue thing. I don’t know if it’s an execution thing, and it’s something that we’re obviously mindful of. I think it’s closer than say the last three or four outings have been.”

A big problem for Gonsolin and the Dodgers has been the right-hander’s inability to get deep into games. Before Wednesday’s game, Roberts said the team needed length from Gonsolin because of where the bullpen was with recent usage following back-to-back extra-inning games and a long road trip.

But Gonsolin hasn’t been a reliable source of innings for the Dodgers. He has completed six or more innings in four of his 16 starts this season.

With the Trade Deadline less than a week away, the Dodgers will be aggressive in trying to add starting pitching. They are expected to add at least one starter. But Gonsolin’s struggles and his past performance in the postseason could lead to Los Angeles adding another starter if it can find a trade partner.

What the Dodgers do before the Deadline remains to be seen, but they’re going to need Gonsolin to pitch better and look more like the pitcher he showed last season.

“I think that the pitching and potentially seeking starting depth has been a topic of conversation that we’re certainly mindful of, and we’ll see what happens,” Roberts said. “I know our guys are working hard to see if we can add some depth and raise the floor, raise the ceiling, any way you want to look at it.”