Justin Wrobleski became the latest Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher to land on the 15-day injured list on Sunday due to left forearm inflammation.
While forearm injuries are always worrisome to hear and often a precursor to Tommy John surgery, that doesn’t appear to be the case for Wrobleski.
“We’re not concerned. It should be short-lived,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We have guys that we’re kind of toiling with and their health dealings; a couple guys in the ‘pen, Wrobo.
“Just feeling that given his workload and where he’s at, taking some of the load off his arm, I think it’s smart. And I think with the eight-man ‘pen, we can sort of protect guys more there.
“We just felt, collectively, Justin was the right person to back off the fatigue of the arm. It’s not something he’s ever going to make an excuse for, but I do think that it’s smart for us as an organization to take that load off a little bit.”
Roberts hinted on Saturday after Wrobleski’s start that a roster move would be made to give the bullpen a fresh arm, but that they had “a few guys ailing” and had not made the decision on who would land on the IL.
Given that the Dodgers had a few options on who could land on the IL, it seems likely they are using the injured list stint as a way to give him a break more than anything else. Inflammation is a generic enough injury and something every pitcher has after their start.
After his start on Saturday, Wrobleski indicated he felt good and was optimistic about his outlook moving forward after he figured some things out with his delivery and mechanics.
The left-hander’s stuff ticked up, and he turned in a decent outing, despite making one key mistake pitch and allowing two home runs.
Before that outing, Wrobleski was in a major slump and allowed four home runs in consecutive games.
The 26-year-old has already set his career-high in innings pitched with 126.1, so the Dodgers will be cautious and mindful of his workload moving forward. He is also expected to shift to the bullpen at some point before the season ends.
Justin Wrobleski’s All-Star season
Even with his recent struggles, Wrobleski has had a strong season in his first year as a full-time starter for the Dodgers. He’s posted a 3.56 ERA and 1.7 WAR across his 20 starts while striking out 19.4% of hitters and walking 5.4%.
Wrobleski was also named to his first All-Star team after pitching to a 2.69 ERA over 100.1 innings in the first half of the season.
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