Dodgers place Victor Gonzalez on injured list with left plantar fasciitis

It’s been a busy week for Dodgers roster moves. The latest is left-hander Victor Gonzalez getting placed on the 10-day injured list with plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Fellow southpaw Garrett Cleavinger was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City, one day after he was optioned.

Gonzalez leads the Dodgers with 36 appearances in the team’s 85 games. That’s not appreciably high, tied for 36th in the majors. But Gonzalez has used heavily of late, pitching eight times in the previous 16 days. During that span, Gonzalez has a 5.06 ERA in 5⅓ innings with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five), and he allowed four of five inherited runners to score.

In those last eight games, opponents hit .391/.533/.565 against Gonzalez, including Jorge Alfaro’s eighth-inning home run on Tuesday night that proved to be the game-winner. Tuesday marked the team-leading 12th game Gonzalez pitched with zero days rest this season.

One of the most trusted relievers on Dave Roberts’ staff, Gonzalez has a 2.57 ERA and 4.16 FIP with 26 strikeouts in 28 innings. He also has 14 unintentional walks, after walking only two in all of his rookie campaign in 2020. Gonzalez’s strikeout rate this year is 21.1 percent this season, after 28.8 percent last year.

Cleavinger was optioned on Monday after pitching in three of the previous four days, including starting Sunday’s bullpen game in Washington D.C.

The left-hander has a 2.03 ERA and 5.11 FIP in 15 games, with 15 strikeouts and nine walks in 13⅓ innings. Cleavinger has allowed only one unearned run in his last nine major league appearances, dating back to May 11, covering nine innings.