Tony Gonsolin and Ryan Pepiot expected to be sidelined into May

The Dodgers look likely to be without starters Tony Gonsolin and Ryan Pepiot into May, skipper Dave Roberts told the beat this evening (relayed by Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic and Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times).

Both hurlers opened the season on the injured list. Gonsolin sprained his ankle after a pitcher-fielding practice in Spring Training. Pepiot had earned the vacated spot in the starting five but suffered an oblique strain just prior to Opening Day. That pushed Michael Grove into the rotation while robbing Pepiot of a chance to break camp for the first time in his career.

Gonsolin seems to be the furthest ahead of the two. He’s throwing to hitters at the team’s spring complex. He’ll do so at least once more before the team considers sending him out on a minor league rehab assignment, which could still be multiple weeks away. There’s no indication Gonsolin has suffered any setback but his recovery has moved a little slower than anticipated. Pepiot, on the other hand, has yet to resume throwing. There’s still no public timetable for when he might be able to pick up a ball, much less return to big-league action.

Losing Gonsolin, in particular, has thinned Los Angeles’ rotation early in the season. Grove has gotten hit hard in his first two starts, surrendering 12 runs across 7 1/3 innings. That’s been a big factor in the Dodgers’ uncharacteristically middling 4.47 rotation ERA through the first couple of weeks. Grove is one of the organization’s more interesting pitching prospects but hasn’t found much success yet in his brief big-league career. He allowed a 4.60 ERA over seven appearances (six starts) as a rookie, bringing his career mark to 6.63 in 36 2/3 frames.