Inside The Dodgers

Dodgers News: Walker Buehler Praises Tony Gonsolin's 'Unicorn Pitch'

Dodgers pitchers sticking together.

Ryan Menzie

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The Dodgers' pitching staff was ravaged by injuries late into the season. One key injury occurred just weeks before the start of the postseason when Tony Gonsolin was sidelined with a forearm strain. All season long, the right-hander dominated for the boys in blue, turning in the best season of his career.

During the NLDS, another injured Dodger pitcher, Walker Buehler, joined the coverage on FOX Sports where spoke about his rotation mate's dominant season and what makes his stuff so special from the rest.

His focus at the end? That devastating split-finger fastball.

"Pretty good fast ball, jumpy fast ball and good inside is probably the biggest change from year-to-year. The fast ball is up in the zone that's still got life to it and the slider is right under it especially to the lefties it a big deal. He's tough on lefties with the slide under and split change with the speed deferential and can be tough for righties. It's kind of a unicorn pitch not many people throw those."

Gonsolin recorded a career-high 119 strikeouts in 2022 while going 16-1 over 24 starts. He started game 3 for the Dodgers against the Padres but struggled with his effectiveness. It was only his second start in nearly two months and he ultimately recorded just 4 outs before being pulled from the game.

In a perfect world, Buehler would have been the man on the bump in that game and the Dodgers would still be playing in the World Series this weekend. Unfortunately, the right-hander underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career back in August and is expected to miss most or all of the 2023 season.

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Ryan Menzie
RYAN MENZIE

Ryan Menzie | Lead Contributor Ryan is an LA Native who has grown up praising the greatest athletes LA has had to offer. A love for sports ranging between basketball, football, volleyball and golf, a future Sports Management Masters graduate, and being engulfed into organized sports since seven years old, the passion and love for sports never ends for Ryan. If the words he writes don't paint the full picture of his true fandom, he will find more ways than one to tell the story and be more than willing to open up a nice LA sports debate with you. Favorite Player: Mookie Betts Favorite Moment: 2020 World Series. The Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers secured the World Series only a couple of months later. During such a rough time with COVID-19 and such a bleak look at how sports has tried to overcome the circumstances, it was a relief to see the night sky lit up for many nights and a makeshift parade in LA when it seemed like we needed it the most.

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