How changes last year set up Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski’s gem against Mets: ‘He was at a crossroads’
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Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski wasn’t trying to trick anyone. He was probably going to throw a fastball or slider. Maybe a curveball. And it more than likely was going to be in the strike zone.
The Mets knew it. And yet one after another, they put the ball in play within reach of the Dodgers’ defense.
“If I can spot my heater, I think that’s something I can do,” Wrobleski said after the Dodgers’ 4-0 win Monday against the Mets. “That’s something that [Clayton Kershaw] did forever. Not saying that we’re the same guy, but at the same time, you can learn from the greats in that respect. They keep it simple.”
A simple plan of attack got Wrobleski through eight scoreless innings while giving up just two hits. He carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and finished with the longest start of his pro career.
“Considering where the bullpen was at going into tonight, huge lift,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And really, really proud of what he’s done in literally a calendar year, how far he’s come.”
Almost exactly a year before the best start of Wrobleski’s major-league career, he had a choice to make.
On April 8, 2025, Wrobleski endured an eight-run pummeling by the Washington Nationals and was immediately sent down to triple-A Oklahoma City. There, he could stick with what had been working in the minors, or he could change his delivery.
“It was just kind of like, this isn’t really working the way I would want it to,” Wrobleski said in a recent conversation with The Times. “And I just feel like my ceiling’s not where I want it to be.”
So, working closely with Oklahoma City pitching coach David Anderson, he took the leap.
Wrobleski has always had a more narrow set position and rotational delivery. Last year, he widened his base and set his weight in the inside of his back foot to force a more linear move and better extension.
After a week of catch and a bullpen session, Wrobleski took the changes into a minor-league game. His first test at the major-league level came in mid-May, when the Dodgers recalled him for length out of the bullpen against the Athletics.
“I was like, alright, this works,” Wrobleski said. “But I trust our guys, I trust our internal development, I trust DA. He’s one of the best pitching coaches I’ve ever had, so I really, really trust him and his opinions.”
The messaging remained consistent through the big-league coaching staff. And Wrobleski’s overhauled delivery kept working, through a strong second half and postseason in the bullpen.
“He was at a crossroads and chose a hard path to go down there and self reflect and gain some confidence and bring it back here,” Roberts said. “There is talent but there is also what’s practical, what plays at the big league level, and that is strike-throwing, being able to sequence, miss barrels, put it on the ground, create soft contact, work with efficiency. Those are things that help a championship team win games. And he has a really good grasp of that.”
He certainly did Monday.
Scott Boras, the agent for Julio Urías, declined to say whether any team had offered Urías a contract this year but said he has not solicited offers from any clubs.
The Dodgers jumped out to an early lead. In the first inning, Mets starting pitcher David Peterson hit leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani in the right shoulder with a 94-mph sinker. (Roberts said he doesn’t expect that to affect Ohtani’s next start.) Then, Kyle Tucker drew a walk, and Will Smith drove in Ohtani with a single up the middle.
The Dodgers piled on in the third with a three-run home run from Andy Pages, the team’s hottest hitter to start the year.
Meanwhile, Wrobleski retired the first 13 batters, with the aid of a couple of glove gems: Shortstop Miguel Rojas made a diving play, and third baseman Max Muncy made a leaping catch.
Wrobleski finally gave up a single to Jorge Polanco with one out in the fifth inning, on a ground ball through the right side of the infield, for the Mets’ first baserunner of the game. But after an inning-ending double play, he’d still faced the minimum through five.
Wrobleski got to flash the leather himself two innings later. With two outs, he splintered Mark Vientos’ bat with an inside fastball and caught the resulting line drive.
Wrobleski didn’t allow a second baserunner until the eighth, retiring another nine straight before Alvarez hit a line drive single into shallow center field. Wrobleski wrapped up the inning with his pitch count at 90.
Left-handed reliever Tanner Scott took over in the ninth with a four-run lead and completed the shutout.
“I’m hoping there’s plenty of other opportunities like that to get a complete game,” Wrobleski said, surrounded by a sprawling scrum of reporters. “That’s something that I think is really cool, not a lot of people do it anymore.”
He also didn’t fight Roberts on the decision.
“It’s something that I’ve got to earn,” Wrobleski said. “... I trusted Doc. And at the same time, I know they’re protecting me and trying to, you know, keep my best interest in mind.”
Roberts, who was weighing how long it had been since Wrobleski had thrown more than five innings, had a slightly different take.
“I would say that he certainly earned the opportunity to go back for the ninth,” Roberts said, adding that the decision was based on preserving Wrobleski’s health. “He pitched a heck of a ballgame.”
Roster move
The Dodgers put reliever Ben Casparius on the 15-day injured list Monday because of right shoulder inflammation and recalled Kyle Hurt from triple A. It was the first bullpen-related roster move of the season.
Casparious (9.64 ERA) threw a scoreless seventh inning against the Rangers on Sunday, but when he came out for the eighth, he immediately gave up a single, walked a batter and then left the game.
“I think [the injury] has some correlation to his second up last night,” Roberts said. “But as far as before, doubtful.”
Casparius is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam, Roberts said.
Hurt posted a 3.68 ERA in seven spring-training appearances this year. He last pitched in a major-league game in April 2024, before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
