Tony Gonsolin called up to start Wednesday for Dodgers

The Dodgers haven’t had a starter pitch on four days rest yet this season, and that streak will continue at least until the next time through the rotation. Tony Gonsolin will be called up to start Wednesday against the Padres, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Tuesday’s game.

Wednesday will mark the Dodgers’ sixth of 17 days in a row with a game, and coupled with the shortened summer camp and hastened restart to the season after nearly four months off, they aren’t pushing the starters just yet.

“We want to make sure that we really take care of the starters, and the pitchers in general,” Roberts said after Tuesday’s game. “I think that right now, to give them the extra day over a few turns makes sense for everybody. And, we can kind of push them a little bit more as we get into September.”

The rest of the rotation gets bumped back a day, with Julio Urías starting the series finale Thursday night on five days rest.

Gonsolin made a spot start for the Dodgers on July 31 in Arizona, pitching four scoreless innings in a no-decision against the Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers will need to make a corresponding move to make room for Gonsolin. If they choose to option a pitcher, Adam Kolarek pitched two innings and threw 24 pitches on Tuesday, his longest outing as a Dodger. Kolarek was optioned last week when the Dodgers trimmed their active roster from 30 to 28 players, but was recalled Monday when Joe Kelly was placed on the injured list.

Dennis Santana threw a scoreless inning on Tuesday, his first time pitching back-to-back days this season.

They could also place Corey Seager on the injured list, since he’s missed the last four games with lower back discomfort and is at least a few days away from returning. Should they place Seager on the IL, they could backdate it to Sunday, making him eligible to return on August 19.

“We’re kind of trying to sift through it,” Roberts said of the corresponding roster move. “We haven’t made that decision yet.”

Links

• Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus dug deep into the details of the 12-year contracts of Mookie Betts and Mike Trout.
• Marc Carig at The Athletic rated MLB teams by watchability. The Dodgers are one of five teams in the “Must-see TV” category, per Carig: “Even within an NL West that has been competitive from top to bottom, there’s no doubting the Dodgers’ standing as a superteam.”
• In writing about how impressive the start of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s career has been, Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs notes that since 2015, the top two fWAR by a shortstop in their first 100 games are Tatis and Corey Seager.
• Brittany Ghiroli at The Athletic profiled former Dodgers pitcher and current Nationals right-hander Javy Guerra, now in his 10th major league season.
• When you’ve totally held a hot dog before: