Tony Gonsolin resumes throwing program, Gavin Lux still dealing with neck issue

The Dodgers got reasonably good news from Tony Gonsolin’s MRI exam Friday, with the right-hander cleared to resume a throwing program after getting shut down for a few days.

Gonsolin was placed on the injured list Monday with right forearm inflammation. The earliest he could return, if all goes well, is September 15.

Gavin Lux was scratched from Friday’s lineup with a flare up of the neck issue that’s limited him to just four starts over the last 10 games. Dave Roberts said Lux is expected to be out of the lineup Saturday as well, and will be reevaluated Sunday, per Sarah Wexler of MLB.com.

After starting the first 130 games of the season, Trea Turner was out of the lineup on Friday, getting a rare game of rest. J.P. Hoornstra at the Orange County Register has more.

Trayce Thompson began turning to former Cleveland All-Star Grady Sizemore — his favorite player as a teen — for advice in 2021, and the two have broken down film occasionally and still keep in touch regularly. Stephanie Apstein at Sports Illustrated has more on Thompson’s resurgence with the Dodgers.

Andy McCullough at The Athletic on the Dodgers: “To argue that this team is anything other than baseball’s best is to waste breath and brain cells. They achieved this through Friedman’s blending of superstars with a revolving door of useful depth. How much that will mean come October is a more interesting question.”

Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs wrote about the Dodgers trying to navigate preparing for October while also not losing focus in September, and working their way through pitching injuries that test their vaunted depth.

Ben Clemens at FanGraphs found that sweeping sliders — like the kind Evan Phillips throws — by right-handed pitchers against right-handed batters produce a lower batting average on balls in play and higher popup rate than non-sweeping sliders. On the latter, Clemens wrote, “Want some outs on balls in play? Get them in the air at a lazy angle. It’s not rocket science, though Los Angeles probably employs plenty of rocket scientists.”

The Justin Turner Foundation’s annual Turner Trot 5K run/walk is this Sunday morning, starting at Dodger Stadium.