The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their first trip through the rotation on Tuesday night with Shohei Ohtani throwing six innings of scoreless ball against the Cleveland Guardians.
The plan entering the season was to use a six-man rotation, and the team can expand its group down the line with Justin Wrobleski moving from the bullpen.
However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the team will make another trip through its current rotation before potentially adding Wrobleski, given their off day on Sunday and another scheduled for Thursday.
“We’re staying in order. We’ll think about inserting Wrobo in there at some point,” Roberts said.
April 8 is the first day they’d need a 6th starter to keep everyone on schedule. The Dodgers could also insert him into the rotation sooner, which would give their pitchers an extra day of rest.
The left-hander made his first appearance of the season in Monday’s loss to the Guardians, allowing three runs in four innings of work.
He is one of a few hybrid pitchers the Dodgers have at their disposal this season, including Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan. Wrobleski received looks at both spots during Spring Training, starting three games and making two relief appearances.
In total, he had a 3.65 ERA, 0.73 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched during the spring.
The Dodgers could eventually have more options to choose from to fill out the rotation. Gavin Stone is working his way back after resuming his throwing program on Tuesday. A return sometime in May could be reasonable, as long as he faces no more setbacks and his build-up goes smoothly.
Blake Snell is also working his way back to full strength after missing the start of the season due to left shoulder fatigue, but he is more likely to return in June or closer to July.
In addition, Ryan is being held in reserve with Triple-A Oklahoma City. The organization chose to have the right-hander begin his season in the Minors to receive extra work in his first season back from Tommy John surgery.
Any way they end up slicing it, the Dodgers are going to have the utmost confidence in the most talented group of pitchers they’ve ever had.
Justin Wrobleski bringing back cutter
Wrobleski first started experimenting with a cutter back in 2025, but didn’t find himself in a lot of spots where he needed to use it out of the bullpen.
He had thrown it a lot more this past spring to expand his arsenal as part of his preparation to potentially pitch in the rotation. The left-hander likes how much it opens up his plan of attack against batters, especially when paired with a changeup he has found more confidence in.
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