MLB.com named Los Angeles Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski as the “newcomer” who has made the strongest impression early in the season.
Wrobleski played in 24 games for the Dodgers in 2025 as well as eight games in 2024, but seeing as the Dodgers’ two newest additions—Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz—haven’t made much of an impact, MLB.com chose Wrobleski after he stepped into a much larger role for LA.
The left-hander has a NL-leading 1.50 ERA through five appearances, and has pitched 30 innings on the season.
“There aren’t many true Dodgers newcomers this year, and their two biggest additions haven’t made a huge impact yet,” wrote MLB.com’s Dodgers beat writer Sonja Chen. “Edwin Díaz is out until the second half after having surgery to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, and Kyle Tucker has been inconsistent early on.
“So let’s go with Wrobleski, who is by no means new to the Dodgers — but he is new to being a regular in the rotation. Wrobleski has allowed just two earned runs in 20 innings (0.90 ERA) in three starts, helping L.A. make up for the absence of Blake Snell to open the season.”
Wrobleski has been with the Dodgers for a few seasons, bouncing between MLB and Triple-A while making long-relief appearances and spot starts, so what changed to make him a regular in the Dodgers’ rotation this year?
He got his shot with Blake Snell’s trip to the IL to begin the season, and has since taken the opportunity and ran with it.
Wrobleski isn’t blowing anyone’s doors off with his 93.6 mph four-seamer, nor is he generating any swing and miss with his breaking balls, but what he has specialized in this season is generating soft contact.
The southpaw has dropped his average exit velocity by nearly four miles per hour compared to last season, but the biggest difference comes from his hard hit percentage. Last season, Wrobleski allowed a hard hit ball nearly 50% of the time, but has dropped that rate to 38.3% this year.
Wrobleski has always been able to miss barrels—posting a 98th percentile 3.8% mark last season—and managing to cut his hard hit percentage down by so much has had huge impact on his performance.
The Dodgers’ defense has also helped him out plenty this season, as they have the fourth-fewest errors in MLB this season.
If Wrobleski can continue to excel at what he’s good at and produce results as he has through the first month of the season, he could very well find a permanent spot in the rotation—even when Snell comes back.
Wrobleski will get plenty of rest before his next start, which should come against the St. Louis Cardinals on the Dodgers’ next road trip. LA’s next game comes against the Miami Marlins on Monday at 7:10 p.m. PT, when Yoshinobu Yamamoto will make his sixth start of the season.
Do you want Justin Wrobleski to stay in the Dodgers’ rotation?