LOS ANGELES -- With Clayton Kershaw sidelined until August and the July 30 Trade Deadline just 11 days away, the Dodgers will certainly be making plenty of calls as they try to bolster their starting rotation.

As it stands right now, the pitching market appears to be thinner than it’s been in previous years. But Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has proven he’s not shy about finding unique ways to improve the roster. In fact, rival executives told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand that the Dodgers are on a “starting pitching warpath” leading up to the Deadline.

But while the Dodgers continue their quest to add starting pitching via trade, they’re also going to need more production out of their current starting pitching options. That especially highlights right-hander Tony Gonsolin, who was a big part of the team’s success last season, posting a 2.31 ERA.

This season, however, Gonsolin hasn’t been able to find the same level of success and that was on display again in the Dodgers’ 7-2 loss to the Giants on Monday at Dodger Stadium. The loss dropped the Dodgers to two games behind the Giants in the National League West standings.

“I don’t think [the season] is up to Tony’s expectations or ours as far as consistency,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “But Tony is our guy so we’re going to keep running him out there and expect him to continue to get better.”

Gonsolin’s outing got off to a shaky start on Monday. Buster Posey returned from the injured list and wasted no time, crushing a two-run first-inning homer off Gonsolin on a hanging slider. Two pitches later, the Giants took a 3-0 lead as Wilmer Flores took Gonsolin deep on a 93 mph fastball.

To Gonsolin’s credit, the right-hander was able to work through his first-inning struggles and allowed just three runs in 3 1/3 innings of work. The stuff is still there for Gonsolin, but the problems this season have come because of decreased velocity and an uncharacteristic lack of command.

Gonsolin missed the first few months of the season with a shoulder injury and his velocity hasn’t quite bounced back. His average fastball velocity in 2020 was 95.1 mph and the right-hander threw 180 pitches that were clocked at 95 mph or higher. This season, his average velocity on the pitch is 93.4 mph and he has thrown just 29 pitches at 95 mph or higher. On Monday, his velocity dipped again at 92.4 mph.

“It’s certainly in there,” Roberts said. “Tony feels strong, he feels healthy. He realizes he just has to continue to make quality pitches, but yeah, the expectation is that the velocity is going to tick up.”

Though the velocity is a concern, so is the command. Gonsolin walked four on Monday, the fourth time in eight appearances that the right-hander has walked three or more in a game. That lack of command has prevented Gonsolin from getting into the fifth inning all but one time.

“Really bad,” Gonsolin said, when asked about his command. “I’m not locating well with the heater. Sliders are either hit or miss. Splitters are about hit or miss. Curveball is actually decent right now.”

Gonsolin’s early exit forced the Dodgers to lean heavily on the bullpen. The Giants ultimately took advantage of that with a four-run seventh inning against Victor González, who returned from the IL on Monday, but continued to struggle. His season ERA is now 3.45.

The Dodgers came into the four-game series trying to at least be tied with the Giants atop the division for the first time since April 28. They can still very much accomplish that and they’ll lean on top pitching prospect Josiah Gray, who will come in behind an opener and pitch the bulk of the innings in his Major League debut.

“Our fate is in our own hands,” Roberts said. “I know my focus, our focus is to win a baseball game tomorrow and that’s all we can control.”