Justin Wrobleski Optioned: ‘Tough’ Decision For Dodgers

Jack Flaherty joined the Los Angeles Dodgers roster on Wednesday, one day after the team acquired him from the Detroit Tigers minutes before the MLB trade deadline. The Dodgers traded prospects Thayron Liranzo and Trey Sweeney to the Tigers in the deal.

In a corresponding move, the Dodgers optioned Justin Wrobleski to Triple-A Oklahoma City in order to make room for Flaherty.

The decision on who would be optioned to make room for Flaherty was not an easy one for the organization to make. River Ryan was another logical candidate to be optioned back to Triple-A, but the Dodgers ultimately chose to keep him on the active roster for the time being.

“It was tough. It was tough. I think we just wanted to see a little bit more from River. But Justin did a fantastic job, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him back up here at some point,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

With a spot cleared in the rotation, Flaherty is scheduled to make his Dodgers debut on Saturday. Ryan’s next start is Sunday, in the series finale against the Oakland Athletics.

Ryan has been very impressive through two career starts in the Majors as he’s allowed only one earned run in 11 innings. This included a strong performance against the Houston Astros last Saturday in which Ryan finished with a career-high eight strikeouts.

Justin Wrobleski impressed

The Dodgers selected Wrobleski’s contract for his MLB debut on July 7. It was another impressive step forward for the left-hander after he quickly rose through the Dodgers farm system.

Wrobleski has only made four starts thus far, but showed promise during that span. Wrobleski pitched to a 4.05 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and had 15 strikeouts over 20 innings.

More importantly, he put the Dodgers in a solid position to win the game in three of his four starts and brought some semblance of stability to a rotation that was in need of options.

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