Tony Gonsolin returns after missing a month

It’s been a rough year for Tony Gonsolin. He’s had two lengthy stints on the Injured List and it just seems like he’s never been able to settle into a groove. Well, with one month left in the season the Dodgers are hopeful he’ll be able to.

Gonsolin started for the Dodgers on Thursday, going three innings while allowing a run.

“It was a lot of fun being out there,” Gonsolin said following the game. “Ideally, try to go a little deeper in the game.”

In his three innings of work, Gonsolin made 55 pitches, 34 of them being strikes. He got 11 swing-and-misses with eight of them coming on his slider. Gonsolin touched 96 mph on his fastball and averaged 94.6 on the pitch, up 1.2 mph from his season average, which is certainly an encouraging sign.

“It felt great,” Gonsolin said of touching 96 mph. “I tried not to look at the gun too much. As I got more comfortable I felt like it was coming out a lot better.”

Following the game, Gonsolin said he felt great. He said up next is seeing how he bounces back tomorrow and will progress from there.

According to Dave Roberts, the plan is for Gonsolin to go four innings in his next outing.