Justin Wrobleski has been nothing short of an unsung hero for the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff this season, even if he’s often faced questions over the long-term viability of a pitch-to-contact approach.
That caught up with Wrobleski last week as the Milwaukee Brewers scored four runs in the first inning. Wrobleski allowed a fifth run in the second inning, but managed to settle in from there and provide the Dodgers with some length to ease the burden on the bullpen in a loss.
Wrobleski responded with a stellar effort against another postseason-caliber opponent as he limited the Philadelphia Phillies to just one run over seven innings. He did so while setting a career high with nine strikeouts in the process. Each of Wrobleski’s strikeouts came on his fastball, which was good for the second-most by any pitcher on only the heater in a single game this season.
Wrobleski averaged 94.9 mph on his four-seam fastball against the Phillies, which was up from his season average of 93.7 mph.
“Just something clicked for me,” he said after the game. “I’ve felt good. Feel like my mechanics are back in a good spot. Just throwing a little harder, and obviously that always helps.”
Wrobleski’s fastball velocity averaged 96 mph last season, which made the drop this year all the more curious. Some surmised it was related to currently being a full-time starting pitcher because of injuries to Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
And though Wrobleski believes locking in his mechanics was key against the Phillies, he wasn’t quite sure how to fully explain the improvement.
“I can’t tell you the exact thing. I mean, I don’t really know what exactly it was,” Wrobleski answered. “I just felt better today. Everything felt like it was in sync again and felt back to normal, as opposed to how I’ve been all year.”
On top of an increase in strikeouts, Wrobleski carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning that was lost on Kyle Schwarber’s two-out solo home run. The outing nevertheless represented Wrobleski’s first start with just one hit allowed.
“I thought tonight, the biggest thing was the velocity,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know what his average was, but it ticked up a couple miles an hour. With that, he was getting a lot of in-zone swing-and-miss. The slider was good. But for me, it was the uptick in fastball velocity. Those guys had to honor it.”
Justin Wrobleski compared to Clayton Kershaw
Earlier this month, Roberts drew a parallel between Wrobleski and Clayton Kershaw due to similarities they share.
“He’s prepared, he goes after guys, he wears Skechers like Clayton does. He does his side work with his full jersey like Clayton did,” Roberts said. “He’s got a great mentor in Clayton, and I think a lot of times he’s channeling that kind of, ‘Go at guys and make them put the ball in play.’”
Coincidentally, Kershaw was on hand at Dodger Stadium to watch his former teammates while seated in the owner’s area of the Dugout Club section.
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