Already ruled out from pitching again for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, Tony Gonsolin underwent Tommy John surgery on Friday. Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the right elbow reconstruction that is likely to keep Gonsolin out all of 2024 as well.
The Dodgers placed Gonsolin on the 15-day injured list August 19, which ended a six-week stretch of pitching through elbow discomfort. He was transferred to the 60-day IL eight days later.
“We got some imaging done in June, so I knew the damage that was in there at that time,” Gonsolin revealed last month. “I kind of just pitched out of necessity. I think Kersh was down at the time, Julio (Urías) was down at the time, we had Bobby (Miller), and (Emmet) Sheehan got called up from Double-A.
“So I felt like I was just pitching out of necessity. I thought I could do it. I thought I had the capability to do it, but it just got to the point where the stuff really wasn’t performing. I went through a lot of tough outings to get to that realization, but overall I kind of knew surgery was the end goal.
“I was just hoping to make it through the season with good numbers and post.”
Despite pitching with the torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Gonsolin could have continued pressing forward if results merited or circumstances required it.
“I mean, yeah, I could pitch if I really needed to,” Gonsolin said in agreement. “But the stuff was so bad and execution was so much worse that I don’t think it would’ve been pretty.”
Gonsolin wound up finishing the season with an 8-5 record, 4.98 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. He allowed a career-worst 10 runs to the Miami Marlins one night before the season-ending IL stint began.
Tony Gonsolin reached contract incentives
When the Dodgers signed Gonsolin to a two-year, $6.65 million contract extension in January to avoid arbitration, the deal also included various performance bonuses.
He reached those, including 20 starts, to add an additional $2 million in salary next year. Gonsolin earned $500,000 toward his 2024 salary by making a 20th — and final — start this season
The Dodgers now will pay $5.4 million to Gonsolin next season.
“I didn’t really even think about it, honestly,” the 29-year-old said of the incentives. “I just tried to go out there and help the team eat up important innings.”
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