For months, Tony Gonsolin pitched with a torn UCL.
He told reporters on Tuesday that he found out in June that he tore his UCL, but played through it as Dr. Neal ElAttrache confirmed it couldn't get worse.
Unfortunately, his play took a huge hit, and the Dodgers ultimately decided to shut him down. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talked about that decision on Monday.
“He felt good enough to pitch, where somebody else could have the same imaging and not be able to pitch,” Roberts said. “There were still (ninety-)threes and (ninety-)fours (on the radar gun). The slider was good. He just wasn’t getting guys out. At that point, we felt he’s earned the opportunity to try to work through it. He’s earned the opportunity to try to reach some incentives. At some point, we talked and said that ‘this was good enough’ and we both agreed.”
If Gonsolin was selfish, he would have had Tommy John surgery in June when he had imaging. But he saw the state of the Dodger starting rotation and Dr. ElAttrache assured him he wouldn’t do more damage. So, he agreed to pitch until he couldn’t be effective.
In June, the Dodger starting rotation was in trouble. Julio Urías was on the IL with a hamstring injury. Clayton Kershaw was on pace to pitch the most innings since 2016, and with his recent injury history, he was expected to go on the IL sometime soon. He went on the IL on July 2nd with left shoulder inflammation.
The Dodgers had both Bobby Miller and Emmet Sheehan in the rotation, and no one knew how well they would do.
The acquisition of Lance Lynn and how well Lynn has performed in a Dodger uniform enabled Gonsolin to quit pitching and have Tommy John surgery. But we commend him for trying to help out when the Dodgers really needed him.
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