3 surprising players carrying Dodgers during season-opening hot streak

1. Tony Gonsolin

In the sixth inning of Wednesday’s game, Dave Roberts became the first manager in MLB history to wish for his own pitcher to have a no-hitter busted up and get it granted.

Such is the luxury of managing a pitching staff like this. The Dodgers aren’t worried about whether or not their pitchers, young and old, will succeed. They’re mostly concerned about whether they’ll put too many dominant innings on their arms and create extra stress.

Gonsolin became the latest moundsman to flirt with a no-no in Wednesday afternoon’s win over the Braves, a way-easier-than-expected contest that landed the eccentric right-hander firmly on MLB’s ERA leaderboard. Yes, he really did finish a 4/20 start with an 0.69 ERA.

A bit misleading? Sure; he’s not missing many bats (eight whiffs in 13 innings) and has a slightly-elevated WHIP of 1.231, proving he’s stranding plenty of runners so far.

But you know what’s not misleading? Since the start of 2019, Gonsolin has a top-three ERA of all MLB starters who meet a 30-start threshold.

Not insignificant.

When the 2022 Dodgers season opened, the back of the rotation looked like a mishmash of four-inning starters and piggyback candidates.

Two times through the order, though, Gonsolin, Heaney, Tyler Anderson and even David Price have all proven to be competent placeholders for Dustin May’s return.

And if May doesn’t make it back full strength, there are more than enough arms to cover the space here.

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