The Los Angeles Dodgers held off a late push by the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, coming away with a victory in the first of three games at Busch Stadium.
In a scheduled move, the Dodgers gave the ball to Justin Wrobleski for his first start with the club since his July 27 outing against the Houston Astros. The 24-year-old, pitching in spot duty, provided five innings of four earned-run baseball.
Tallying seven whiffs in his five frames, Wrobleski struck out three Cardinals, allowing four hits, three of which were home runs. It wasn’t a perfect outing, but Wrobleski did enough to help the Dodgers come away with a 7-6 win.
Wrobleski gave a lot of credit to teammates for the run support and in the latter parts of the game, paving the way for him to earn his first career win with the Dodgers, via SportsNet LA:
“Feels great, feels great,” Wrobleski said. “Obviously you love getting a win. A win is huge, but it’s more of a team stat than it is a reflection on how I pitched. The bullpen really picked me up and the guys obviously mashed there in that sixth inning, so it’s pretty cool.”
It’s unclear how long Wrobleski will be with the club, but a thin pitching staff could make him a necessary piece to their current mix.
Wrobleski is still learning the ropes of pitching against MLB offenses, and has posted a 4.68 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, with 18 strikeouts over 25 innings. He’s allowed seven home runs in that stretch, a number that will have to come down if he aims to have staying power in the big leagues.
Justin Wrobleski’s best role with Dodgers
Wrobleski has a high-powered fastball that sits in the mid-90s and also possesses a slider, cut-fastball, curveball, sinker and a seldom-used changeup.
Heading down the stretch, he could be used as a long-relief option for the Dodgers, but given their immense uncertainty in the starting rotation, Wrobleski could be learning on the fly as a starter. Avoiding the home run ball is his biggest task, because he’s shown that his stuff can play in MLB.
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