Who Is Justin Wrobleski?

Published on by Dennis Schlossman

As the active roster of the Los Angeles Dodgers continues to spin in circles, fans can add another name to their get-to-know list this weekend.

In Sunday’s weekend series finale against the Brewers, 23-year-old lefty Justin Wrobleski will get his first major league start. Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 190 pounds, the Illinois native is probably smaller than today’s standards for starting pitchers. However, he’s one of the fastest rising stars on the farm and packs an above average heater that clocks in around 97 MPH.

It’s too soon to know how Wrobleski’s addition will impact the roster, as the club will need to make room on the 26-man and 40-man rosters. The team will likely announce a decision several hours ahead of Sunday’s contest.

Regardless, Wrobleski is currently ranked No. 14 by MLB Pipeline among the Los Angeles top prospects. He was originally selected by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2021 draft after making stops at Clemson, State Junior College in Florida and Oklahoma State during his collegiate career.

Wrobleski had UCL surgery two months before the draft, but that didn’t stop the Dodgers from taking a flyer on the southpaw in the middle rounds. After making his organization debut in 2022 at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga, he pitched exclusively for High-A Great lakes last year, compiling a 4-4 record with a 2.90 ERA over 23 starts and 102-1/3 innings of work.

Wrobleski made 13 starts at Double-A Tulsa to start his 2024 campaign, but he was quickly promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City when scouting directors saw the possibility of an MLB debut. In two starts with OKC, the lefty has an 0-1 record with a 4.25 ERA and 17 punchouts over 10-1/3 innings.

Wrobleski’s repertoire is as deep as anyone’s on the farm. In addition to his four-seam, his primary pitches are a slider and a change. He also mixes in an occasional two-seam and a curve.

One of Wrobleski’s biggest strengths is his command. So far this year, his BB/9 is just 1.8, which is exceptional for a 23-year-old farmhand.

Despite his high velocity, one of his biggest weaknesses is the lack of movement on his four-seam. It will be interesting to see how big league hitters attack him, as he throws the heater 46% of the time. Still, his velo and ability to locate his fastball have offset that dilemma so far during his days on the farm.

Nevertheless, just getting an MLB start is an incredibly high achievement for any minor league pitcher. Right now, it appears that the Dodgers are using Wrobleski to give the current five-man rotation an extra day of rest. However, if he impresses, he could join Landon Knack among the capable MLB-ready pitchers directly on the fringe.

11 thoughts on “Who Is Justin Wrobleski?”

  1. I bet Wrobleski will become a favorite of Dodger manager Dave Wroberts.

    I’d much rather see a good prospect than a bullpen game. Hopefully he can give them about 4-5 innings. He may even be auditioning for a trade at the deadline. If he looks good, teams will probably be asking for him in trade. I’m guessing the White Sox will have a scout or two at tomorrow’s game.

    Like

    Reply

      1. I think he’s about convinced them.

        Those scouts I mentioned in the stands tomorrow? Vargas will definitely be talked about in any trade for Crochet or Robert Jr.

        Maybe Andrew will pull a real stunner and get Crochet and Robert for a package of Rushing, Vargas, Wrobleski, River Ryan, and a couple of hot shot youngsters in the low minors.

        Like

  2. well that would be a steal Jeff. A bunch of unproven nobodies s for crochet and/or Robert’s. We always think the other team is dumb. Don’t think that will happen. Hate to lose Vargas though.

    b

    Like

    Reply

    1. The Sox have already traded Cease this season. If they get rid of Crochet and Robert it means a full tear down so they’re going to want promising young players.

      I comment on a few blogs so I apologize if I’ve already posted this here but the one prospect I wouldn’t trade is Josue DePaula. Everyone else I’d have to think about.

      Crochet and Robert aren’t exactly without warts.

      This is Crochet’s first year as a starter and he’s already thrown more innings than ever before. If we would get him and continue to start him for the rest of the year, he’d probably be useless come playoff time, so they would have to dramatically curtail his innings for the rest of the year.

      Robert has loads of talent but absolutely no means of staying on the field. He’s the Joe Kelly of position players. You’re lucky if you get half a season out of him in any year.

      I’m torn as to whether I would go after either of those guys so I guess I’ll just let Andrew make that decision………..and then I’ll complain about whatever happens.

      Like

      Reply

      1. we have a ton of good young players and Andrew is very good trading prospects before they are revealed as triple A players. Im good with trading any prospects for a proven player. The odds are on my side. Leaving it up to him is a good plan. Now if only he knew how to draft major league players.

        Like

  3. Giants traded Austin Slater to the Reds for LHP Alex Young who they then assigned to their AAA team. I thought Wrobleski did a great job for a kid who had only two appearances in AAA. He made two bad pitches. The bullpen did not help the kid out at all, and neither did the billion-dollar offense.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. Looks like both the Marlins and the Nationals are going to be sellers at the deadline. Luzardo will not be on the block though since he is on the IL, and they would have to sell low. Chisholm is on the block, but with his history with Rojas, and the harsh words he said about him not too long ago, he would be a very long-shot to be traded to LA, plus, for a player of his talent, he is another huge strikeout guy. Too much it’s all about me in the guy. I would like to snag their lefty reliever though, Scott. Nats have a few interesting pieces. Winker, Thomas, and maybe their closer or set up man.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Scott of the Marlins or Finnegan of the Nats would be nice additions to the bullpen, depending on how much they would cost in prospects. We’re at the point of the season where we really can’t count on Brasier or Graterol to be available, no matter what the team is telling us.

      We’ve got Phillips, Treinen, Hudson and Vesia although Treinen hasn’t pitched in two years so they’ll have to watch his innings.

      Not sure they want to depend on Ramirez or Banda in the post season. I’ll leave that decision to AF, but in any case adding one of the two guys I mentioned above would definitely make the pen stronger.

      I think we may have more need for Winker than Thomas. Teo, Pages, Vargas, Kike and CT3 all hit right handed and can play outfield. The only lefty hitting outfielders we have are Outman and JHey (now on the IL). Winker was pretty bad in 2022 and 2023 but was injured. All his other seasons, including this one, have been just fine. Whereas Thomas has very one-sided splits, Winker isn’t bad against either.

      I must admit, I haven’t really paid much attention to Winker but I’m now on the bandwagon. Let’s go get Winker. Shouldn’t take a huge amount to get him since he’s a free agent after the season.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.