On a team with, when healthy, an entire rotation of All-Star worthy pitchers, one name might not have come to mind at the beginning of the season – Justin Wrobleski.
Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were both selected this season. Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell have been selected in years previously. Wrobleski, while making an incredible case for himself this season, was not.
“You want to be an All-Star,” Wrobleski said. “It’s something that, regardless of the year, whenever, it’s always a big deal.
It’s something I wanted to do. It’s frustrating to not get that nod.”
Wrobleski pitched seven innings of one-run ball on Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies. He lowered his ERA to 2.69 and sits at 10-2 with 73 strikeouts and 1.02 WHIP.
The lefty has come a long way since being back in the minors last season to work on his craft. He has focused on attacking batters from the get-go, and it shows. In Tuesday night’s game, he had a first pitch strike to 23 of 28 batters. He leaned heavily on Clayton Kershaw last season for advice, and has changed his mind set to much improved results.
“I just don’t want him to get dinged for not making a couple more starts that he potentially could have had,” Roberts said. “He’s won 10 games for us — to be able to get pitching decisions, you’ve got to go deeper in games — the ERA. It’s about winning, the ERA is stellar, innings per outing, and so I just think that he’s performed enough to earn that opportunity.”
There is still a chance that Wrobo could be selected – Yamamoto is not expected to pitch in the All-Star Game, and Wrobleski could be chosen to replace him.
Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic has more details here, including what he’s been able to do on the mound this season.
Baseball player turned analyst Pedro Martinez has nicknamed Wrobleski “The Shark”, and the team and Dieter Ruhle have been having fun with it. After finishing his outing in Tuesday night’s game, while he was pacing the dugout, catcher Dalton Rushing put his hand to his head to make a shark fin. Ruhle, the Dodgers organist, played the “Jaws” theme after each strikeout and when he walked off the mound after the seventh inning.
“If it happens, great,” Wrobleski said. “If it doesn’t happen, some time off and just chill for a couple days. Either way, I’m all good.”
Maddie Lee of the L.A. Times has some more details as well as covering some about Shohei Ohtani’s 300th homer here.
