Dodgers' Tony Gonsolin Breaks Silence After Another Elbow Injury

Last week the Dodgers were left without another starting pitcher, and Tony Gonsolin was left to wonder what's wrong with his right elbow — again.

Gonsolin reported soreness in his surgically repaired elbow after his most recent start, Wednesday against the New York Mets, and was placed on the 15-day injured list. Good news arrived shortly thereafter, when imaging revealed no damage to Gonsolin's new ligament, the one he received in a 2023 Tommy John surgery.

Yet the underlying cause of his soreness remains somewhat of a mystery.

“I definitely thought there was a chance (the ulnar collateral ligament was damaged again),” Gonsolin told reporters, including Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group. “It definitely felt different than two years ago. I would say I’m probably having more pain now than two years ago, mostly because my UCL was fully torn (in 2023) so it didn’t really hurt.

“I think the fact that it was so achey, I thought there might be a little tear in it. But there wasn’t.”

In the meantime, the Dodgers have shut down Gonsolin from throwing. Matt Sauer will get the first crack at filling his spot in the starting rotation Tuesday in San Diego.

Gonsolin, 31, is 37-13 with a 3.34 ERA in 86 regular season games (78 starts) for the Dodgers since his 2019 debut. He was an All-Star in 2022, when he went 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 24 starts.

Since then, his career has been defined by injuries and ineffectiveness. In 2023, Gonsolin was 8-5 with a 4.98 ERA in 20 starts when the torn UCL in his right elbow ended his season.

Although Gonsolin was able to go out on a minor league rehabilitation stint last year, he did not join the Dodgers for their run to the 2024 championship.

This year, Gonsolin was 3-2 with a 5.00 ERA in seven starts prior to his most recent IL stint. It's not clear when the Dodgers will see him on the mound again.

“It’s definitely a relief that it’s not surgery right this second,” Gonsolin said. “Hopefully it’s going to get better and once it gets better and once I can jump back into throwing and it’ll continue to improve and just get stronger. It definitely is a relief that the UCL is still good and I don’t have to go through 18 months of rehab again.”