4 Dodgers who are playing their way out of the team's 2024 plans

Tony Gonsolin

Despite Tony Gonsolin's good baseline career numbers, he's not exactly an "eye test" guy. He also can't avoid injuries. He's also not a suitable postseason pitcher. So, if he's now regressing, then what's the use of him in the rotation beyond 2023?

Gonsolin's having a career-worst season with his 4.42 ERA, 4.87 FIP, 1.19 WHIP and 7.1 K/9. His statcast page is as bad as it gets -- he's well below average in 12 of the 14 categories on Baseball Savant. Not only has Gonsolin long faced issues with lengthening his outings, but now he can hardly get through one unscathed.

He has just two quality starts on the year (out of 18) and has allowed four or more earned runs in seven of his last nine outings. He was supposed to be propping up the pitching staff as injuries took hold and rookies made more starts. Instead, he's somehow been less effective than Michael Grove dating back to mid-June.

Gonsolin earned Super Two status years ago, meaning he will be eligible for four years of arbitration. He already covered two of those four with a contract extension in the offseason, which will pay him a guaranteed $6.65 million through 2024. At this point, if the Dodgers don't believe he'll be worth a back end rotation spot, the focus should be finding a team to take on his money for 2024, especially since he can't be non-tendered until next offseason.

Again, shedding payroll and either searching for better cost-effective options or introducing more young arms into the fold would probably be a wiser choice, since Gonsolin's failed to ever pitch a full season or come through down the stretch at any point in his career thus far.