Former Dodgers Pitcher Announces Retirement at 32 Years Old

A pitcher whose last stop in affiliated baseball included brief stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies in 2024 has officially retired.

Left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves, who's 32 years old, made 23 appearances in the Mexican League this season. According to a post to his Instagram account, Gonsalves' last start for the Conspiradores de Queretaro on Aug. 2 was the final outing of his career.

"Thank you to everyone that pushed me along the way: new beginnings ahead," the post wrote.

As noted in his post, Gonsalves recorded 1,001 strikeouts in his professional career, which included stops in five MLB organizations before he spent the last two seasons in Mexico.

Former Minnesota Twins top pitching prospect Stephen Gonsalves is calling it a career:

10 MLB games - 20 K
206 MiLB games - 871 K
90 foreign games - 110 K

1,001 strikeouts later. Well done sir! pic.twitter.com/DxUQljhfRu
— Ted (@tlschwerz) August 4, 2026

Gonsalves' Dodgers career was brief. He signed a minor league contract in January 2024 and got into four Cactus League games with the Dodgers that spring. He allowed two runs across three innings.

When the minor league season began, Gonsalves was assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He made 15 appearances for the Dodgers' top farm team and went 2-0 with a 6.00 ERA. He allowed opponents to hit only .219 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League and struck out more than a batter per inning, but also struggled with command (20 walks in 18 innings).

The Dodgers released Gonsalves on May 24, 2024. He finished the season with the Rockies, making 17 appearances for Triple-A Albuquerque with a 7.41 ERA.

Stephen Gonsalves Career History

A San Diego native, Gonsalves was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Minnesota Twins out of high school. Five years later, Gonsalves reached the big leagues and made seven appearances (four starts) for the Twins. He went 2-2 with a 6.57 ERA, with more walks (22) than strikeouts (16).

Gonsalves was still a Top-100 prospect entering the 2018 season, but he did not make it back to the big leagues for another three years.

By then, Gonsalves had been waived by the Twins, claimed and designated for assignment by the New York Mets, and DFA'd (and re-signed) by the Boston Red Sox. Gonsalves made three appearances for the Red Sox in 2021, allowing two runs across 4.1 innings (4.15 ERA).

That proved to be the end of Gonsalves' MLB career, but hardly the final pitch he would throw.

"From watching you debut at Target field to holding our son watching you pitch at Fenway, seeing all of your hard work pay off was truly the experience of a lifetime," his wife, Hali, wrote on Instagram.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X/Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google