The Dodgers need rookie Justin Wrobleski to be good. They don't need him to be a Cy Young candidate, but they need him to be good enough that he doesn't go the way of Bobby Miller where he's being sent to the minors to work through mechanical problems. Pulling Wrobleski early from his start against the Red Sox was the right move for Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts given how the 2024 season has gone for the rookie.
Wrobleski on Saturday pitched 4.1 innings of shutout, three-hit baseball. He walked two and struck out five. It was his best outing as a pro. He also didn't have to venture into the area where his first couple starts fell apart.
By removing Wrobleski with one out in the fifth inning on Saturday, Roberts allowed the young pitcher to avoid going through the Red Sox order a third time, and potentially damaging his confidence to a point that he might not be a reliable option for LA through the dog days of the season.
Entering Saturday's game, opponents were batting just .150 against Wrobleski in the first three innings, and his ERA sat at just 1.50. Those are both sensational numbers.
Things started to waver some in the fourth inning of his first couple starts, and they really toppled over in the fifth inning where he gave up two doubles and three home runs to just 11 total batters.
The second time through the order was what really killed Wrobleski in his first two starts. Saturday he came one batter shy of making it through the order twice. It's likely he wasn't given a chance to finish off a full second time through the order because some control issues had him at 83 pitches after 17 batters -- one shy of his career-high.
Either way, he did enough to make tangible progress in his first foray into the Majors. That's something they can build on.
