Within hours of the Dodgers (formally) announcing that 29-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin was going under the knife for Tommy John surgery on September 1, 24-year-old Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller took the mound at Dodger Stadium for his 16th start of the season and of his career.
Needless to say, with Gonsolin now on the shelf for most of (if not all of) the 2024 season, every Dodgers starter not named Clayton Kershaw will have to step up their game to pick up the slack (so to speak) created by the loss of Gonsolin.
Although the Elk Grove Village, IL native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2020 out of the University of Louisville allowed three runs on seven hits to the (distant) NL West second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in his first four innings of work of the Dodgers first game back from their just concluded six-game road trip through Cleveland and Boston, he did not allow another run – or hit – over his next two innings of work in the Dodgers eventual 7-4 win over the struggling Snakes.
“I’m not like too happy about the outing today, you know. It’s probably the worst my stuff’s been all year,” Miller told reporters postgame after his eighth win of the season (against three losses). “But I’m glad to fight through it and get a couple zeros after that fourth and get through six and not put the bullpen like take over for a long time of the game. Like I always say, I want to keep them fresh, you know. It’s just really important for me and the bullpen. You know, I really want to get through at least six every time to give them some rest, but I’m glad to get through six.”
“That’s one of those things where a young pitcher where to bow his neck and to find a way to get through six innings was certainly not only helpful for tonight, for the rest of this series and this week,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “He mixed well and was able to weather that inning to go two more.”
Of course, when your offense slugs four home runs off of 2023 NL Cy Young frontrunner right-hander Zac Gallen to give Miller and the Dodgers a rather comfortable 7-4 lead and win, that tends to help Dodgers fans forget about Miller’s first four frames. It also now has the Dodgers a full 13.0 games ahead of Arizona and 13.5 games ahead of the NL West third-place San Francisco giants, which is always a good thing.
Now, if only Messrs. Julio Urías, Lance Lynn, Michael Grove, and that Kershaw fellow can replicate what Miller did on Monday night to help pick up the rest of the Gonsolin slack, it’s going to be a very exciting remainder of the regular season and postseason for Dave Roberts’ team.
Play Ball!
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