Dodgers All-Star Pitcher To Start Season on Injured List in Devastating Development

Gabe Smallson | Mar 11, 2025

Feb 18, 2024; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin (26), starting pitcher Dustin May (85) and relief pitcher Joe Kelly (99) lean on a fence in the bull pen during spring training at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have suffered another blow to their pitching roster as All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin will be forced to start the season on the injured list, per USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

This will clear the way for Dustin May to be the team's fifth and final pitcher in the starting rotation.

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The right-hander injured his back while lifting weights, manager Dave Roberts announced Monday.

Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin will open the season on the IL, and Dustin May will be the Dodgers’ 5th starter.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 11, 2025

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Gonsolin hasn’t touched a major league pitcher's mound since August 2023 as his year ended early to undergo Tommy John surgery. 

That shortened season was the follow-up to his illustrious 2022 campaign that saw the right-hander go 16-1 with an ERA of 2.14 over 24 starts. Across 130.1 innings, Gonsolin struck out 119 batters to only 35 walks and earned his first All-Star selection.

The 30-year-old arm was on his way to winning the fifth and final starting job in a revamped Dodgers rotation. Starting the season on the injured list will be another roadblock on Gonsolin’s long road to returning, but his replacement has had just an arduous of a battle back to the mound. 

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The Dodgers will now feature Dustin May as the final piece of the rotation. May has been out of commission since May 2023 as his season was cut short due to undergoing a tendon flexor surgery in his elbow. 

As May was increasingly closer to his major league return, he suffered an esophagus tear while eating a bite of salad that led to 11 days in the hospital after an emergency surgery. 

Gonsolin will continue to recover and attempt to recapture the brilliance of 2022 while his Dodgers start their journey to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in a quarter-century. 

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