Following the Los Angeles Dodgers’ loss to the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of the NLDS, manager Dave Roberts officially announced that Tony Gonsolin will take the mound for Game 3 of the series. Roberts noted that Gonsolin, who was sidelined for the entirety of September due to a strained right forearm injury, was extended in the live simulation games this past week and the team “felt good” about the right-hander's availability for Friday's matchup.

On Thursday, Roberts provided a bit more reasoning behind his call to roll with Gonsolin over Tyler Anderson for Game 3. In the end, the decision was made to pencil in Anderson for Game 4 instead since he has “more length” than Gonsolin.

“Yeah, I think the main thing is looking at it as coming off an off-day, Tyler has more length than Tony, so to be able to come off an off-day, have your full disposal of pen arms available, I think, just equipped us the best to prevent runs for Game 3,” Roberts said.

Roberts also noted on Thursday that Gonsolin is set to be on a pitch count for Game 3.

“I think with us, certainly there's going to be some restrictions on Tony,” Roberts said. “I don't know what they are right now. I know that he's built up, upwards to 75 pitches. We'll see how it goes with his stuff and effectiveness.

“I think the good thing about our pen coming off an off-day is Dustin is back online. Andrew Heaney is back online, and the other guys are available. I think for us, it sort of depends where Tony comes out, what's the score and all that stuff.”

The Dodgers bullpen was called on quite a bit over the first two games of the NLDS clash against the Padres. Overall, seven different Dodgers relievers have recorded at least three outs in the series, including Alex Vesia, who has logged three strikeouts in 1.2 innings pitched.

As mentioned, Gonsolin’s nagging forearm injury forced him to miss much of the latter stages of the regular season. He has tallied a mere 2.0 innings pitched since the start of September. On the other hand, Anderson was the workhorse hurler for the reigning NL West champions in the regular season, as he led the team in innings pitched with 178.2. He has pitched in 31.0 innings since the start of September.

The Dodgers head into Game 3 with an eye on taking a crucial 2-1 lead in the series.