Dodgers: 3 injuries that have hurt LAD the most during current slump

2. Tony Gonsolin

Remember when the Dodgers’ pitching depth was so special they could send both the overqualified Tony Gonsolin and David Price to the bullpen in favor of Dustin May?

Now, both the team’s sixth and seventh starters are gone; Price’s hamstring strain sent him to the IL Monday, and Gonsolin has only recently begun a throwing program, encountering painful shoulder soreness the last time he tried to do so several weeks ago.

Down to the last line of defense, pitching depth-wise, just three weeks into the year? Not how LA drew it up.

Gonsolin hasn’t appeared this season, but the impact of his absence becomes obvious when you’re forced to look at who closes when Kenley Jansen isn’t available. Joe Kelly’s not walking through that door. Brusdar Graterol isn’t built up yet. Perhaps Corey Knebel could’ve entered the circle of trust if he hadn’t struggled before succumbing to his own potentially season-ending injury this week?

Massaging an extended late lead on Sunday, the Dodgers would’ve preferred to turn to a trusted innings-eater like Gonsolin. Instead, they were forced to go to reclamation project Jimmy Nelson, who couldn’t hold San Diego down. Once the game was tied, it was time for DFA candidate Garrett Cleavinger.

We’re ranking Gonsolin ahead of Kelly and Knebel here simply because we trust his guile and pitchability more in such situations. Knebel was partially down the comeback trail, and Wild Joe isn’t in the same league when the bleeding needs to be stopped. Losing Gonsolin has knocked all the wrong people up a peg.