The Los Angeles Dodgers are 88-38 and are all but assured to finish the season with the best record in the NL West division.
They are 7.5 games ahead of the second-best team in baseball, and look like the biggest candidates to earn a first-round playoffs bye and home-field advantage.
One would think that this is the time to get some of their stars some time off via the “phantom” injured list stint: they place a player on the shelf for two weeks to manage workloads and keep him fresh, and the player comes back in September and still has about two weeks to get back up to speed.
It’s something that has been done for a long time.
Coincidentally, the Dodgers announced on Monday that they sent starter Tony Gonsolin to the injured list with a right forearm strain.
It’s Not A Phantom IL Stint For Gonsolin
Juan Toribio of MLB.com, however, is clarifying that this isn’t a phantom IL situation: Gonsolin is actually injured.
“It’s not a “phantom IL” situation for #Dodgers Tony Gonsolin, like some are suggesting. It’s an actual injury. But the Dodgers are confident Gonsolin will be back in time to get strong for October. We’ll see,” Toribio tweeted.
It’s not a “phantom IL” situation for #Dodgers Tony Gonsolin, like some are suggesting. It’s an actual injury. But the Dodgers are confident Gonsolin will be back in time to get strong for October. We’ll see.
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) August 29, 2022
Gonsolin reportedly felt some tightness coming out of his last start, and the team decided to play things safe.
The Cy Young candidate has a 2.10 ERA in 128.1 innings, but will be out for a couple of weeks now.
The issue is not believed to be serious, and both the pitcher and his manager, Dave Roberts, expect him to be back in a couple of weeks.
Hopefully, he can come back strong after a few days of rest.
