KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In truth, there was very little notable action on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
Which, in effect, is exactly how Justin Wrobleski liked it.
In the Dodgers’ 5-1 win over the Kansas City Royals — a victory that clinched the weekend series and gave the club a 5-1 record on this past week’s road trip — Wrobleski continued to quietly impress as a depth pitching option for the Dodgers, pitching six scoreless innings that was short on flash but long on substance; serving as the latest productive outing in his suddenly auspicious sophomore season.
Entering the game after opener Lou Trivino at the start of the second, Wrobleski made easy work of a struggling Kansas City offense, giving up just three hits and one walk in a six-strikeout showing as the Dodgers (53-32) pulled away at the plate.
Kiké Hernández hit a two-run homer in the second. Will Smith added a solo shot in the sixth. And by the time the team tacked on two more runs in the seventh, such extra insurance was already looking unneeded.
Instead, Wrobleski further raised his stock in what has been a surprise midseason rejuvenation, turning in his best performance yet at the big-league level.
Over his 83-pitch outing, the Royals (39-45) only once managed to even put a runner in scoring position.
Few saw Wrobleski’s surge coming this season.
After a choppy eight-game debut last year, when he had a 5.70 ERA, the 24-year-old left-hander’s first opportunity in the majors this season was a total disaster, giving up eight runs in five innings to the Washington Nationals back on April 8.
Wrobleski was optioned back to the minor leagues after that, and made only one MLB appearance over the next two months: a four-inning outing in mop-up relief duty during a May 15 blowout of the Athletics.
At the start of June, however, he was called back up to make a spot start in St. Louis, turning in a decent six-inning, four-run effort. And since then, he has continued to get better each time out. In his last 20 innings — all of them coming in bulk relief — he has conceded just four earned runs while striking out 21 batters. His overall ERA in five June appearances was 2.73.
The biggest difference with Wrobleski of late has been his fastball. In that April start against the Nationals, it averaged just 93 mph. In every outing since, it has sat around 96-97 mph, and topped out above 99 mph.
Wrobleski credited the improvement with some small mechanical tweaks, having adopted a wider base in his pre-pitch stance and incorporated a rocking motion in his delivery to help him direct his momentum toward the plate.
But also, he said he has simply found a way to throw with maximum effort more consistently — coupling it with an increased reliance on his sinker to attack the zone and induce quick outs.
As a result, Wrobleski’s name is quickly rising among the hierarchy of young Dodgers pitching.
The fact that he was even on this road trip was a sign of the organization’s growing confidence in his abilities.
During the team’s last homestand, fellow young talent Emmet Sheehan returned from Tommy John surgery with four sharp innings, and seemed primed to occupy an open spot in the Dodgers’ rotation moving forward. However, with Sheehan not yet fully built up, the club elected to option him back to triple A and have Wrobleski pitch twice in a six-day span this week, with a five-inning, two-run outing in Colorado on Tuesday preceding Sunday’s gem in Kansas City.
Sheehan should be back in the majors soon, having pitched six perfect innings with 13 strikeouts in a start with Oklahoma City on Wednesday (manager Dave Roberts said Sheehan’s next outing will also be with OKC, though he could still rejoin the Dodgers before the end of their upcoming homestand).
But now, he’s not the only former prospect showing flashes of being an impact option in the majors.
Sunday’s outing might have breezed by in the moment, but it only further underscored the lasting impression Wrobleski is suddenly making.
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