Fact: 28-year-old Dodgers right-hander Tony Gonsolin is not only the best pitcher in the National League, he is the best pitcher in all of baseball.

With his outstanding seven-inning / 93-pitch performance (63 strikes) on Thursday night in front of a Dodger Stadium crowd of 52,072, the Vacaville, CA native and Dodgers ninth-round draft pick in 2016 out of Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, CA, allowed just two runs on four hits, with no walks and three strikeouts to improve his record to an MLB-best 11-0 and lower his ERA to an MLB-best 1.62.

“I feel like I fell behind a lot of counts today,” Gonsolin told reporters postgame. “But overall, the fastball’s been good and just really letting the defense play. We have the best defense out there, so it’s awesome to watch these guys play.”

“I thought even without his best stuff, he was still able to navigate 24, 25 hitters,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Gonsolin’s 16th start of the season. “He was behind more than he typically has been. But when he’s going that well, he can still navigate the lineup and still put out a quality start.”

Of course, that “best defense” is also one of the best offensives, as well; seventh-best in batting average at .252, and seventh-best in home runs with 106. Two of those home runs were hit on Thursday night by Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts, numbers 19 and 20 on the season for the soon-to-be 2022 All-Star.

Betts also had high praise of ‘The Cat Man,’ as Gonsolin is affectionately known.

“For me, I kind of saw it last year when I faced him in live [batting practice],” Betts said of Gonsolin. “I knew he had really good stuff. It just took him throwing more strikes. It may be amazing to everyone else, but to me, it’s kind of what I expected.”

High praise indeed.

Play Ball!

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