Justin Wrobleski received a well-deserved first career selection to the MLB All-Star Game, but he now is in the midst of his worst stretch of the season.
After allowing five runs on seven hits to the Seattle Mariners, the left-hander followed it up with a season-high-tying seven runs in a loss to the Chicago Cubs. Wrobleski has additionally surrendered eight home runs — four in each outing — in 10.1 innings over that span.
“I think last week’s were better pitches than this week,” he said on SportsNet LA of the homers allowed. “The one to (Carson) Kelly, not a great pitch. The one to Seiya (Suzuki), I’m not super upset with that. I think maybe most ballparks hold that or it’s off the wall and not a home run.
“I think overall I just didn’t throw the ball well enough obviously. I’m pretty frustrated with these last two, so just continue to work on things and get better. Hopefully come back out, go on a run here and have a nice little scoreless streak.”
Justin Wrobleski tipping pitches?
Given that Wrobleski allowed a career-high four home runs for a second consecutive start, there’s some belief he might be tipping pitches.
“Yeah, it’s possible. It’s something we’re going to go look at,” Wrobleski said. “I changed the game plan pretty significantly today, and felt like they were still on some stuff. Again, it’s baseball. They get paid a lot of money to play this game and they’re good players.
“Sometimes you’re going to get got. It’s a hard league to pitch in. At the end of the day I just need to continue working to get better.”
Roki Sasaki went through a similar situation and it led to now using a larger glove that helps conceal his grips.
The possibility of Wrobleski being hurt by a tell on the mound was a theory also shared by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“It’s interesting. I think the stuff is really good, as good as it’s been all year. I think his last start, I felt the ball was just up. Tonight, it just seemed like they were on everything,” he said.
“Some balls that were executed decently, they still took good swings. When he made good pitches, they didn’t offer at, or spoiled. And when he did make mistakes, it seemed like they were leaving the ballpark. So we’ve got to dig into it. I know he’s prepared and doing what he can. … That’s something that I think we have to dig into.
“Even that PCA (Pete Crow-Armstrong) at-bat in the first inning, this is a guy throwing 97 miles an hour and he’s got two strikes, and he’s right on time for the breaking ball. No flinch. I don’t know, so we’re going to dig into it. Not trying to take anything away from those guys offensively, but they were taking really good swings and he’s got really good stuff.
“Something just really stood out that they were checking off and they were virtually on everything.”
While the Dodgers begin the process of finding an answer, Wrobleski has the dubious record of becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to allow four home runs in multiple games during the same season.
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