Bay Area’s Gonsolin might propel Dodgers.
DODGERS TURN TO BAY AREA PLAYERS TO HELP CLOSE OUT SERIES
Saint Mary’s product
Gonsolin could lead
Dodgers to title tonight
If the Dodgers clinch their first World Series title in 32 years tonight in Arlington, Texas, a pitcher from the Bay Area could play a starring role.
Rookie right-hander Tony Gonsolin hasn’t had an easy run through the postseason, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced Monday that the team is hoping he’ll be able to pitch deep into Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
With the Dodgers holding a 3-2 series lead, Gonsolin will make his second World Series start this October only four years after the organization selected him in the ninth
round of the 2016 amateur draft out of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga.
“He’s going to go out, do his thing and he’s going to dominate,” fellow rookie Dustin May said confidently Monday.
The Vacaville native and Vacaville High product went undrafted out of high school and also wasn’t selected following his junior year with the Gaels, but the Dodgers took a chance on him following his senior season and are now hoping one of the most effective rookie pitchers in baseball can lead them to a title.
Gonsolin has given up eight runs in 7 2/3 innings during the postseason and was used as an opener in a brief 1 1/3 inning outing in Game 2 of the World Series, but Roberts told reporters Monday that the righty will be used as a traditional starter on Tuesday.
“I think it provides a little bit more comfort for me,” Gonsolin said of knowing his role. “I’m going to go out there and
throw the ball as long as I can or as best as I can until Doc (Roberts) says that I’m done.”
Gonsolin posted a 2.31 ERA in nine games during the regular season and struck out 46 batters in 46 2/3 innings. That he finds himself pitching on the biggest stage in baseball might come as a surprise to high school and college teammates who saw Gonsolin earn the majority of his playing time as an outfielder.
“Even when he signed to play, he thought he was going to get drafted as an outfielder until the day before the draft,” former Saint Mary’s coach and current Long Beach State coach Eric Valenzuela said. “The Dodgers drafted him as a pitcher, and he still had so much room to grow. He’ll admit that. When you’re trying to be the best hitter on your team as well, that takes things away from the pitching side.”
The 26-year- old started in the outfield for three seasons at Saint Mary’s and hit seven home runs with an .876 OPS during his senior year. Highly touted righthander Corbin Burnes, a
member of the Milwaukee Brewers rotation, was considered the top pitcher on the Gaels’ staff, but Gonsolin also caught the attention of scouts on the mound.
When Burnes, who was drafted in 2016 by the Brewers, started an NCAA Regional game against eventual national champion Coastal Carolina, Gonsolin launched a first-inning home run to give the Gaels the lead.
“There was a lot of buzz, a lot of scouts there at games especially for Corbin, but there was a lot of buzz around Tony too,” Valenzuela said. “We had a good group that year with guys who went on to play professional baseball. He was right in the mix, and we were the place to be in the Bay Area in 2016 for scouts for sure.”
Despite making fewer than 20 career starts in four years with the Gaels, Gonsolin was drafted as a pitcher by the Dodgers. Gonsolin pitched exclusively out of the bullpen during his first two years in Los Angeles’ minor league system, but moved into the High-A Rancho Cucamonga
rotation in 2018 and made his major league debut by June 2019.
Gonsolin’s rise through the Dodgers’ system was a surprise considering he had relatively limited experience as a pitcher in college and wasn’t selected until the ninth round of the 2016 draft, but his journey is yet another testament to the outstanding scouting and player development staffs in Los Angeles.
“You see pictures of him at Saint Mary’s and he was always a great athlete, he could always hit for power, but he probably added on 35, 40 pounds of good weight since college,” Valenzuela said. “Nobody understands the rigors of what they go through as a student-athlete, especially as a two-way guy.”
An unlikely ascent from starting outfielder at Saint Mary’s to starting pitcher in the World Series might make it a bit easier for Giants and A’s fans to understand how their teams missed out on him, but it probably doesn’t sit well with the scouts who had a chance to watch Gonsolin up close during his college days.