When looking at the Los Angeles Dodgers rotation, Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the clear ace, and it’s followed by two other elite starters in Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow. Joining them is a pair of high-upside right-handers in Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki.
But when the Dodgers moved to a six-man rotation, they promoted Justin Wrobleski from the bullpen to the starting staff. The results have been fantastic as Wroblski proves himself an unheralded member of the pitching staff.
The results speak for themselves. Across his three starts so far this season, Wrobleski owns a 0.90 ERA and 0.80 WHIP while batters are hitting just .169 against him.
But what’s been even more valuable to the Dodgers is his ability to eat innings, something that both Sasaki and Sheehan have failed to do at the back of their rotation.
Wrobleski has thrown 20 innings across his three starts, one inning short of an average of seven per start. He also became the first Dodgers pitcher this season to go seven innings in consecutive starts, by completing eight against the New York Mets and seven against the Colorado Rockies.
It wasn’t until Yamamoto’s fifth start of the season on Tuesday that he was able to pitch seven innings for the second time this season, further highlighting how impressive Wrobleski has been.
Wrobleski and Yamamoto are the only Dodgers pitchers with multiple starts of at least seven innings this season. Tyler Glasnow has one such outing in 2026.
Perhaps even more impressive is that Wrobleski has done this without relying on the strikeout. He struck out three against the Rockies, two against the Mets, and two against the Toronto Blue Jays in his first start.
While Wrobleski will need to increase his swing-and-miss ability to maintain run-prevention success at his current levels, his reliance on pitching to contact could also be a benefit for the Dodgers.
With a pitching staff that thrives on getting strikeouts, it also has the potential to run up pitch counts and shorten starts. Having a pitcher in the rotation who isn’t focused on strikeouts and instead tries to get quick outs could help the Dodgers’ bullpen in the long run.
That is all the more important given Sheehan’s continued work through mechanical issues and Sasaki’s status as a complete question mark from pitch to pitch.
Wrobleski already proved his value out of the bullpen last season, and now it looks like he’s showing the Dodgers he can be one of the most important parts of their pitching staff.
Justin Wrobleski learned from Clayton Kershaw
Wrobleski has relied on just two pitches to get through his starts, which goes against conventional wisdom of a starter needing at least three pitches. In his most recent outing, he also started to mix in a changeup, but that was thrown less than 10 times in the game, and has mostly relied on his fastball and slider.
“I think that’s the bread and butter for me, is the fastball and slider,” Wrobleski said. “Yes, at some point I want something that’s moving the other way, but at the same time, I think if I can spot my heater, I think that’s something I can do.
“That’s something Kersh did forever. I’m not saying we’re the same guy, but at the same time, you can learn from the greats in that respect. They keep it simple. There was nothing overly special. He wasn’t trying to trick anybody. I think that’s something I’ve learned even with watching Yama, Snell and all these guys. They’re not trying to trick people. They’re just executing pitches with great stuff and letting the results happen.”
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
