PHOENIX –– Gavin Stone might be throwing with “a whole new shoulder” now,as he joked earlier this spring.
But tomanager Dave Roberts, he’s the same “mini-bulldog” as the Dodgers remember from two years ago.
“This guy is gonna over-achieve and over-deliver,” Roberts said confidently Tuesday morning. “Gavin put in a lot of workto get back to being the pitcher he was.”
The pitcher Stone was in 2024, of course, looked destined to become the team’s next homegrown star.
He had a breakout rookie campaign that year, leading the Dodgers in innings pitched while going 11-5 with a 3.53 ERA in 25 starts.
He was also bestowed with the “mini-bulldog” nickname by Roberts –– who compared his efficient, pitch-to-contact, “throwback” approach to that of the franchise’s original “Bulldog,” Orel Hershiser.
But then, just as Stone was putting the finishing touches on a Rookie of the Year-caliber performance that had him primed to be a frontline option in the Dodgers’ postseason rotation, adversity struck.
He gave up five runs in a five-inning start on Aug. 31 at the Arizona Diamondbacks. He found he “couldn’t pick up my shoulder” when he woke up the next morning. And after getting an MRI, his standout season was suddenly over, ultimately ending with a significant surgery to repair his shoulder capsule, labrum and rotator cuff.
“I was surprised by the severity of the injury,” Roberts recalled. “But it speaks to how Gavin is such a tough, tough ballplayer. He was going through stuff, and still found a way to compete and be good.”
For the first time since that Arizona start almost 18 months ago, Stone returned to game action on Tuesday, and immediately impressed in a scoreless one-inning, two-strikeout, 15-pitch outing in the Dodgers’ Cactus League game against the Cleveland Guardians at Camelback Ranch.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
