There are a couple of things in baseball that are absolutely taboo to talk about. Without question, tops on that list is that you never say “No-Hitter” when one is in progress; this despite the endless claims (ad nauseam) by a handful of ignorant broadcasters who insist that uttering those forbidden words has no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of a no-hitter in progress. And while this may indeed be true, why is it that the players themselves never say “No-Hitter” when one is in progress? In other words, broadcasters who do so are just being smug.

But what is not on that forbidden list – at least not that I am aware of – are the words “Cy Young Award frontrunner.”

Please forgive me if they indeed are, but with 56 games now in the books of the Dodgers’ 2022 regular season (with 106 games remaining), 28-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin is clearly the “2022 National League’s Cy Young Award frontrunner.”

There, I said it; and I’m not being smug.

On Wednesday night, the soft-spoken Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA, tossed six innings against the American League Central third-place Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, allowing only one run on three hits, with five strikeouts and one walk to collect his National League-tying (with 32-year-old Dodgers left-hander Tyler Anderson) seventh win (with no losses), and improving his Earned Run Average to a National League-best 1.58.

“He went out there and made pitches when he needed to. Just a pro outing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team’s 4-1 win over the ChiSox.

“During Spring Training, you just never know, guys are building up, but I think right now, the blinders are on and he’s just really focused on his work. Everything is intentional now,” Roberts added. “He doesn’t let the previous innings or looking out for the next hitter, he’s really in the moment, and he’s doing a fantastic job.”

As he often is, Gonsolin was once again quite humble about his outing on Wednesday and was even somewhat critical of himself.

“I probably threw like six splitters for strikes, so it’s not ideal,” Gonsolin said. “Slider felt like it wasn’t there, came around in the last inning. Curveball was a little more out of the zone than I normally throw, I feel like, but fastball was solid.”

Of Gonsolin’s 84 pitches in his six innings of work, 52 were strikes (61.9%). He also retired the South Siders in order in four of those six innings.

“I only got to see him a little bit last year, but it seemed like he got the pitch count up pretty early last year,” Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner said postgame. “This year, he’s been so efficient. A lot of weak contact early which is great, strikeouts when he needs them. He makes pitches when he needs them. He’s kind of doing everything.”

“I just think he’s confident in his stuff right now, and it’s showing,” added Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger. “He’s just a confident dude.”

Although “It’s still early,” as so many like to say, “It’s getting late early,” as Hall of Fame catcher/manager Yogi Berra often said. As such, it may be time for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, who vote for the Cy Young Award winners in each league every year, to begin giving some serious consideration to Tony Gonsolin as the “2022 National League’s Cy Young Award frontrunner.”

There, I said it again; and I’m not to be smug.

Play Ball!

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