Justin Wrobleski finally added to All-Star roster

It sounds like Burns made the decision to bow out of next week’s Midsummer Classic for precautionary reasons to avoid missing any time coming out of the break. It’s a situation that fantasy managers should monitor closely, but the extra time off should help him be ready to take the ball to open the second half. He was replaced on the National League’s roster by Dodgers lefty Justin Wrobleski.

A rare difficult outing for Burns, he didn’t get through a single inning cleanly and felt like he was battling himself all night. His fastball was extremely erratic with just a 44% zone rate and far too many of them wound up at the eyes of the Phillies’ hitters. That issue got worse as the game went on and he wound up being fortunate to get out of this start with just the three runs on his ledger. That’s the mark of a great pitcher though: giving your team a chance to win when you don’t have your best stuff. He’ll head into the All-Star break after an excellent first half with 11 wins, a 2.54 ERA, 118 strikeouts, and 37 walks through 102 2/3 innings.

Wrobleski held the Rockies scoreless over five innings before Colorado brought a run in to score on two hits and a groundout in the sixth. He gave the Dodgers one more scoreless frame, going seven innings while collecting nine strikeouts. His two-run lead would be blown by the bullpen, saddling Wrobleski with a no-decision. The 25-year-old left-hander will go into the All-Star break with a 2.69 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and a 73/20 K/BB ratio across 100 1/3 innings.

He struck out only four. Burns’ velocity is dropping some; his 97.1-mph average on his fastball today matched his season low. He’s been under 98 mph in six straight starts after topping that mark in eight of his first 11 starts. His slider is down, too. He averaged 90.8 mph with that pitch in his first 14 starts, but he’s been at 89.6, 89.3 and now 89.1 mph in his last three outings. He’s already at 97 2/3 innings this year after finishing at 109 1/3 in his pro debut last year, so it seems quite possible that fatigue is setting in. He’s due to make his next start Wednesday against the Phillies, which would be his last outing before the break. There’s a good chance he’ll be named to the NL All-Star team, but the Reds might not want him to pitch.

The A’s brought a run in to score on two hits in the first inning. He then held the A’s scoreless over five more frames until Colby Thomas took him deep for a two-run blast in the seventh. Wrobleski would finish out the inning and end his day with no walks and 11 strikeouts on 19 swinging strikes. The 25-year-old left-hander will take a 2.81 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 64/18 K/BB ratio across 93 innings into a start against the Rockies in Los Angeles next Tuesday.

Burns tossed two scoreless innings, then gave up a three-run blast to Brandon Lowe in the third. The Pirates brought another run in on two hits in the fourth. Burns would start the seventh inning, giving up a leadoff double before departing at 93 pitches. The inherited runner would eventually come in to score. Burns struck out ten on the day, his first double-digit strikeout performance of the season. It was just the second outing in which Burns allowed more than three runs. The 23-year-old right-hander will take a 2.36 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 112/29 K/BB ratio across 91 2/3 innings into a start against the Brewers in Milwaukee on Thursday.

Wrobleski was again over 95 mph on average with his fastball tonight. He’s come in at 95.2-95.4 mph in all four of his starts in June. Prior to this month, he’d averaged 93.8 mph with his fastball and never topped 95 mph in any of his starts. The extra velocity hasn’t led to a big spike in his strikeout rate, but he has pitched well in three of his four outings during the stretch. There was reason to doubt his early season success, but his stock has definitely climbed some. That said, don’t be too surprised if he has a setback in a tough ballpark in Sacramento next week.

Burns dealt with quite a bit of traffic today, allowing five hits, three walks and six stolen bases, but the only run came on a Ben Rice homer. That was actually also the only hard-hit ball he gave up, as the other four knocks all came on softer contact. Burns won his eighth straight decision, moving to 9-1 with a 2.00 ERA. He’s tied for second in MLB in wins, he’s fourth in ERA and he’s tied for seventh with 102 strikeouts. He’ll get the Pirates next.

Wrobleski was outstanding on Tuesday, keeping the Rays off the board over six frames. He allowed just three hits and did not walk a batter, tossing an efficient 50-of-67 pitches for strikes and collecting five strikeouts. The 25-year-old left-hander will take a 2.72 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 50/16 K/BB ratio across 79 1/3 innings into a start against the Twins in Minnesota next Tuesday.

Burns gave up four hits, walked three and struck out seven. He improved to 8-1 with the win. Burns had five of his strikeouts in the first two innings and then took the mound in the third inning with a 9-0 lead. He lowered his ERA to 2.01. Burns will face the Yankees on the road on Sunday in his next start.