Anthony D. Gonsolin (born May 14, 1994) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played college baseball for the

Saint Mary's Gaels The Saint Mary's Gaels are the athletic teams that compete at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division I teams and to the school's club sports teams. Most varsit ...

. He was drafted by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be di ...

, and made his MLB debut in 2019.

Early life and amateur career

Gonsolin attended

Vacaville High School Vacaville High School is an American public high school in the Vacaville Unified School District located in the city of Vacaville, California, serving the north side of the city and the far northern unincorporated communities of Allendale, Buckt ...

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it t ...

. As a senior, he went 4–1 with a 2.60

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). After going undrafted in the

2012 MLB draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto ...

, he enrolled and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at St. Mary's College of California. As a senior in 2016, he pitched to a 3–3 record with a 3.86 ERA in 18 games. He was drafted by the

in the ninth round of the 2016 MLB draft.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Gonsolin spent his first professional season with the

Ogden Raptors The Ogden Raptors are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Ogden, Utah and play their home games at Lindquist Field. Pitcher ...

and

Great Lakes Loons The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007. Histor ...

, pitching to a combined 1–2 record with a 3.77 ERA in 19 relief appearances. He spent 2017 with Great Lakes and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, where he went 7–6 with a 3.86 ERA in 42 games. After spending his first two seasons as a relief pitcher, he was converted into a starter in 2018. He started the season with Rancho Cucamonga and was promoted to the Tulsa Drillers during the season. In 26 starts with both teams, he went 10–2 with a 2.60 ERA. The Dodgers named him as the organization's minor league pitcher of the year for 2018.

Major leagues

Gonsolin began 2019 with the

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Ba ...

, and was called up to the Dodgers on June 26 to make his debut as the starting pitcher against the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

. He pitched four innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits with three strikeouts. He also singled to center field in his first major league at bat. On July 30, in his second MLB game, Gonsolin picked up his first career save against the Colorado Rockies after pitching four innings of relief in a 9–4 win. On August 5, Gonsolin picked up his first major league win after pitching six shutout innings against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He allowed only two hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. He pitched 40 innings in 11 games for the Dodgers, with six starts, and finished with a 4–2 record and a 2.93 ERA. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 regular season, Gonsolin went 2–2 with a 2.31 ERA, in nine games (eight starts) during which he struck out 46 batters in innings. In the postseason, he made two appearances in the NLCS, starting game two and appearing in relief in game seven. He pitched a total of 6 innings, allowing seven runs and picking up the loss in game two. In the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, he was selected by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to start Game 2, on two days rest, against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. He only pitched innings in the game and allowed one earned run on one hit and one walk as he was awarded the loss in the game. He also got the start in Game 6 and this time pitched innings while allowing one run on three hits and two walks; however, the Dodgers came from behind to win that game and clinch the championship. Gonsolin received eleven votes in 2020

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

voting, finishing in fourth place. On October 26, 2020, '' Baseball America'' named Gonsolin its 2020 Rookie of the Year. Gonsolin began the 2021 season on the Opening Day roster but did not appear in a game before he was placed on the injured list on April 4 with right shoulder inflammation. After a few rehab starts, he was activated on June 9 to rejoin the Dodgers starting rotation. His shoulder started hurting again towards the end of July and he was put back on the injured list on July 31. After missing another month, he returned on September 9. He made 13 starts (and two relief appearances) for the Dodgers in 2021, with a 4–1 record and a 3.23 ERA. Gonsolin made three relief appearances in the

2021 NLCS The 2021 National League Championship Series was the best-of-seven series in Major League Baseball (MLB) between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, for the National League pennant and the right to play in the 2021 World Series. The B ...

, allowing five runs on five hits in four innings. After starting the 2022 season with 11 wins and no losses and a 2.02 ERA, Gonsolin was selected to the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, he allowed three runs on four hits (including two home runs) to pick up the loss in the game. At the end of August, Gonsolin was placed on the injured list with a forearm strain. He spent the next month recovering and did not return until he made a start on October 3rd, the second to last day of the regular season. Despite this, his season numbers were a career best. He finished 16–1 with a 2.14 ERA and 119 strikeouts.

References

External links