Tony Gonsolin placed on injured list with right forearm strain

Tony Gonsolin will not start Monday’s series finale against the Marlins as scheduled. The Dodgers right-hander and current ERA leader in the National League was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday with a right forearm strain.

The roster move was backdated to Friday, so the earliest Gonsolin can return — if all goes well — is September 10. But the more important goal will be to make sure Gonsolin is ready to pitch in the postseason, but that would likely require at least a few starts during the regular season to ramp up.

It’s been a dream season for Gonsolin, who made his first All-Star team this year and is currently 16-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 23 starts.

He’s also pitched 128⅓ innings, just over 11 innings shy of his professional high — counting the majors, minors, and postseason — set in 2018 while in High-A and Double-A. Gonsolin’s innings total this season exactly matches his total from 2020-21 combined.

“I dealt with a little bit of forearm tightness earlier this year,” Gonsolin told reporters in Miami before Monday’s game, per SportsNet LA. “I thought it was going to go away in a couple days. It just kind of lingered this time, so we’re going to push back and miss a couple of starts.”

Michael Grove was called up to start in Gonsolin’s place on Monday in Miami. Grove, who pitched last Tuesday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He was listed to start in tandem with Jon Duplantier on Sunday night in Triple-A, but did not pitch.

Grove, the Dodgers’ second-round draft pick in 2018, made his major league debut in May and in two games allowed seven runs (three earned) in 4⅔ innings, with four walks and three strikeouts. He had the unusual path of jumping from Double-A to the Dodgers, and pitched in the majors before pitching in Triple-A.

With Oklahoma City this season, Grove has a 3.71 ERA in 12 games, with 56 strikeouts and 18 walks in 51 innings, including allowing two or fewer runs in eight of his last nine games.