Justin Wrobleski’s birthday week just got a lot bigger.
The Dodgers left-hander, who turns 26 on Tuesday, was added Saturday to the National League All-Star team and will head to Philadelphia as a replacement for Reds pitcher Chase Burns, who won’t be available to pitch on Tuesday.
It’s a sharp turn in what has become a breakout season for Wrobleski. After spending parts of the last two years in the majors in a hybrid role, he has settled in and produced real numbers: a 2.69 ERA and 4.12 xERA across 16 games, 15 of them starts, with 73 strikeouts and 20 walks in 100 1/3 innings.
His season began with a bulk relief outing on March 30, and since then he has climbed into rare air. Wrobleski ranks third in the majors with an average of 6.42 innings per start, and he sits 12th in ERA.
The All-Star call also comes after a stretch in which Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had been pushing for him. Wrobleski had talked this week about being left off the original roster, and he didn’t hide how much the honor meant.
“You want to be an All-Star,” Wrobleski said. “It’s something that, regardless of the year, whenever, it’s always a big deal.
It’s something I wanted to do. It’s frustrating to not get that nod.”
The selection puts Wrobleski in a pretty exclusive Dodgers group. He is just the fifth Dodgers starting pitcher this century to make the All-Star team in his age-25 season or younger, joining Odalis Pérez in 2002, Chad Billingsley in 2009, Clayton Kershaw from 2011-13, and Walker Buehler in 2019.
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Dodgers Farm System Suddenly Has A Return And Bat Fans Can't Ignore
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There was more than one reason for Dodgers followers to keep an eye on the lower levels, too. Great Lakes and Ontario both took losses, but the individual performances still stood out, especially in Ontario where Easton Shelton added to his league-leading home run total. Between the batters heating up in Oklahoma and the steady stream of notable nights elsewhere, the system is offering plenty for the organization to track as the week rolls on. [Read more 🡒]