Justin

Wrobleski

It’s a wonder how Wrobleski continues to get the job done despite a lack of strikeouts. He had another excellent day on the mound, holding the Cardinals scoreless over six frames. He scattered six hits and one walk with zero strikeouts. The 25-year-old left-hander ends the day with a 1.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 15/10 K/BB ratio across 36 innings. Wrobleski lines up for a home start against the Braves next Sunday.

It’s fair to say that Wrobleski was squeezed at times during this outing, but he did struggle to throw strikes as seen in four walks and just 62-of-109 pitches landing in the zone. He was able to pick up six strikeouts, but it’s worth noting that he generated just seven swings-and-misses before exiting. Still, the results are the results, and Wrobleski continues to limit the damage to the tune of a 1.50 ERA with a 4-0 record. He’ll look to improve both against the Cardinals next weekend.

Wrobleski did strike out three, but he was fortunate to limit the damage to just one run. He allowed eight hits in the contest, and 12 balls off Colorado bats registered as hard contact. That’s 22 hard-hit balls allowed in his last two starts, and he’s allowed only one run in the process. The 25-year-old will look to keep the good run — and potentially, the good luck — going against the Cubs on Sunday.

Wrobleski only struck out two, but he didn’t walk anyone while giving up just a pair of singles. There were 10 balls hit off the 25-year-old that were considered hard hits, but his ability to command the strike zone a long with a smidgen of luck carried the way against the anemic Mets’ lineup. Wrobleski will likely make at least one more start, and it would be Monday in Colorado against the Rockies.

Wrobleski’s first start produced his first win of the year. He mostly just stuck with the fastball and slider tonight, throwing one of the other 69 times in the 78-pitch outing. He had a poor 19-percent CSW, but just four of 15 balls in play against him were hard-hit and only two produced hits. Wrobleski will probably get another start next week against the Mets, assuming that he isn’t needed in long relief this weekend. The Dodgers will probably want him available behind Roki Sasaki on Sunday just in case.

Roberts added that Justin Wrobleski will temporarily move into the rotation to build in some extra rest for everyone else. Ohtani simultaneously holds the longest active scoreless pitching streak (22 2/3 innings) and the longest active on-base streak (36 games) in baseball right now. The 31-year-old two-way superstar tossed six shutout innings on Tuesday against the Guardians while also reaching base safely three times. He’ll get a couple extra days of rest before taking the ball to close out a three-game rematch of last year’s thrilling Fall Classic.

Woo adds that the Dodgers haven’t explicitly stated it publicly, but the expectation is that Wrobleski will be ready to pick up the slack, if Sasaki struggles out of the gate in his season debut. The lack of a clear-cut rotation spot limits Wrobleski’s appeal to extremely deep mixed leagues and NL-only formats, but there’s some definite win potential pitching the middle innings with Los Angeles’ loaded lineup providing run support.

Wrobleski had a 39% CSW against Angels backups in finishing off the 3-0 loss tonight. He’ll probably be asked to make a relief appearance of similar length his first time out, most likely after Roki Sasaki exits. He could be a nice source of wins in NL-only leagues while working in long relief.

Sheehan will follow Opening Day starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Tyler Glasnow closing out a three-game season-opening series against Arizona. It’ll be Roki Sasaki followed by Shohei Ohtani early next week to kick off a three-game set against the Guardians at Dodger Stadium. There are some reasons for mild concern with Sheehan fantasy-wise after experiencing some diminished velocity this spring but he’s still going to be a viable mixed-league fantasy contributor. It’ll be Justin Wrobleski operating in a piggyback role, most likely with either Sheehan or Sasaki the first time through the rotation.

Katie Woo of The Athletic reported earlier Sunday that Sheehan might not get a start the first time through, but it’s now confirmed that he will. Justin Wrobleski, who was the alternative to Sheehan, will piggyback off one of the starters. Based on spring performance, Sasaki, who will start the final game of the opening series against the D-backs, would seem to be the most likely choice. Given how much Sasaki struggled in spring, fantasy managers in deeper formats could still roster Wrobleski in case Sasaki’s struggles force him into bulk relief appearances or a starting job. Sheehan and Ohtani will get the Guardians next Monday and Tuesday.