ST. LOUIS — No one is confusingJustin Wrobleskiwith a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
But on Sunday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts evokedClayton Kershaw’s name when describing the young lefty’s growth as a starting pitcher.
“He’s got a great mentor in Clayton,” Roberts said. “And I think a lot of times, he’s channeling [Kershaw’s mindset] of, ‘Go at guys and make them put the ball in play.’”
That’s certainly what Wrobleski did Sunday at Busch Stadium,spinning six scoreless innings without a strikeoutin the Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Cardinals.
The performance improved Wrobleski’s stunning stat line since moving to the rotation, giving him a 5-0 record and 0.59 ERA following his early-season promotion from the bullpen (he has a 1.25 ERA overall this season, second best among qualified MLB pitchers).
It also reinforced his newfound reputation for attacking the zone and pitching to contact; rendering his league-low mark in strikeouts-per-nine-innings (3.75) almost meaningless as he gobbles up innings and puts zeros on the scoreboard.
“He is very understanding of, the most important thing is to get outs,” Roberts said. “And you’re either going to chase strikeouts and work behind and nibble and not be efficient, go shorter in games. Or you’re going to keep going after guys and getting outs.”
Wrobleski has indeed opted for the latter — thanks in part to the lessons he learned from Kershaw as the three-time Cy Young winner’s teammate the last two years.
Asthetically, Wrobleski has always bore a couple notable resemblances to Kershaw.
“He wears Skechers like Clayton does,” Roberts joked. “And he does his side work with his full jersey like Clayton did.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
