Is Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin Ready for a Rotation Spot?
Tony Gonsolin's time has come. And the young replace the old. Or in the Dodgers' case, the less-young.
Yes, we're dealing in short sample sizes. But the entire 2020 campaign is a small sample size, so small sample size it is. Gonsolin has made two spot starts to date, on July 31 and August 12. He allowed a grand total of a hit and a walk in four innings in the former and three hits and a walk in 4 2/3 in the latter. His small-sample-size performance to date is 8 2/3, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 Ks, 0.00 ERA and 0.692 WHIP.
The 26-year-old right-hander's 2019 sample size was small too, but big enough to turn heads. Pitching in five games as a reliever plus six starts sprinkled through the schedule, Gonsolin put up a 2.93 and 1.025, with 15 walks and 37 strikeouts in 40 innings. Throw out the rough major league debut at Arizona and the ERA is 2.25.
Ross Stripling is a 30-year-old veteran of 57 starts in parts of five seasons in Los Angeles, with a 3.88 lifetime ERA and 1.185 WHIP as a starter. That's value, and Strip has contributed plenty to the cause. And yes, his last three games are the very definition of a small sample size, but in those three Stripling has allowed six homers and 12 earned runs for an 8.10 and 1.800.
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A fifth starter on most teams and a third or fourth on some of them (see Arte Moreno), Stripling is a legitimate major league pitcher. He is. But the Dodgers have seven starting pitcher candidates to chose from, and it might just be that Strip is number six or seven.
The club is in the middle of a six-man turn through the rotation, so for the moment, there is no decision to be made. Maybe Gonsolin blows up tonight or there is an injury with another man and Strip takes his next start without issue. That makes Dave Roberts' job easier. But you knew this job was dangerous when you took it, right Skip?
Twenty-nine-year-old Alex Wood is in the mix too, and normally you wouldn't want to hold one start against a veteran like Woody, especially when the man hit the injured list following the start (3 IP, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 Ks). But there's nothing normal about the year 2020. Nor is there anything normal about 32 years between World Series championships. It's win or go home. The mentality has to be win now. Win. Now. The Dodgers have the pieces to win now. The question is, will they use them in the right order at the proper time?
There is room for everybody on the L.A. roster, however. It's a team game, and no manager sells the concept better than Dave Roberts. If Gonsolin pitches like I expect him to tonight, Roberts has a problem most skippers would die for: a surplus of worthy arms. If Gonsolin has a hiccup -- say, three or four runs in four or five innings -- then Roberts' has a tougher decision on his hands. Not necessarily tough, but tougher. And he'd be making it after the smallest of small sample sizes.
I expect no such hiccup from Gonsolin this afternoon at Dodger Stadium (first pitch at 4:10). I expect the Cat Man to show his claws and rise to the occasion, with something like this: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 8 Ks. At me after the game -- or during -- to discuss it.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Video courtesy of Spectru SportsNetLA/Los Angeles Dodgers.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
