Justin Wrobleski turned in another quality start for the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday as he continued what has been a career year on the mound.
The left-hander improved to 11-2 on the season after holding the Philadelphia Phillies to one run and five hits in 6.1 innings of work at Citizens Bank Park.
Wrobleski has made the most of his extended opportunity this year, but will be limited to some extent going forward as the Dodgers begin planning for the postseason. He isn’t necessarily concerned about his workload, but knows the team has his best interests in mind.
“At the end of the day they’re going to do what’s best for me and my career,” Wrobleski said on SportsNet LA. “I trust this organization and these people. My job is always to go out there and give them whatever they need from me that day, pitch until they take the ball away from me.”
Wrobleski’s outing against the Phillies was cut somewhat short at 89 pitches. He has now thrown 106.2 innings over 17 games (16 starts) this season.
Last year, Wrobleski threw a total of 123.1 innings between his time with Triple-A Oklahoma and the Dodgers, including the postseason. He’s on track to surpass that mark and set a new career high even with the team’s intention to lighten the workload.
“I feel good. I feel solid,” Wrobleski said. “My workload, I guess publicly, is probably a little different to what it actually is internally with our organization because I threw during the playoffs last year and the year before.
“Throwing innings on backfields and stuff like that, I think my body is ready to handle this normal workload. I feel good. I think it’s just another thing where you’ve got to listen to your body.
“I might be making a call to [Clayton Kershaw] here in a couple days to try and figure out how he did it for so long of throwing 200 (innings) a year. But no, I think just try to lean on everybody in this organization and figure out how to manage my body the best I can to stay healthy.”
Wrobleski and Kershaw developed a close relationship over the years, and manager Dave Roberts compared the two lefties earlier this season.
Justin Wrobleski enjoyed return to Citizens Bank Park
Wrobleski’s start against the Phillies came on the heels of making his All-Star debut exactly one week ago in the same ballpark.
“It was fun. I think anytime you get to pitch in these kind of ballparks, it’s fun,” Wrobleski said of quickly returning to Citizens Bank Park. “It’s a good time. For me, going up against (Zack) Wheeler was pretty cool. I think he’s a really good pitcher.
“It’s super fun to have those matchups, and then it was raining, so on top of that just try to battle the elements. It was fun. Just a little adversity out there. I had a good time. It was fun.”
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