LOS ANGELES — Justin Wrobleski added another strong start to a season replete with him, though his seven innings to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night at Dodger Stadium added a new wrinkle.
Wrobleski didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the sixth inning, when major league home run leader Kyle Schwarber took him deep. It was the second straight game the Dodgers flirted with a no-hitter.
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In his seven innings — the fourth time Wrobleski has pitched that deep into a game in 2026, matching Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the team lead — Wrobleski struck out nine batters, two more than his previous career high.
“Everything clicked for me. I feel like my mechanics are good, and I was throwing a little harder,” Wrobleski said. “Everything felt like it was in sync again, and I felt back to normal.”
Wrobleski allowed 14 runs in his previous three starts after a nearly spotless April. He said he found something mechanically in the final three innings in his previous start in Milwaukee on May 22 which helped find his fastball. Wrobleski averaged 96 mph on the four-seam fastball last season, and on this year he’s at 93.8 mph. But against the Phillies the left-hander averaged 94.9 mph on the pitch, with 11 clocked at 96 mph or higher.
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“It’s a missing piece I know I have in me, and it would make me better,” he said.
“It was the uptick in fastball velocity, and those guys had to honor it. When you can reach back for 97, it makes life a lot easier,” manager Dave Roberts said. “When you can get the swing and miss in the zone, that’s a separator for any pitcher.”
Through 10 games, nine of them starts, Wrobleski has a 2.87 ERA and 3.82 xERA, the latter inflated due to his low strikeout rate (16 percent), ranked 69th among 73 qualified starters in MLB. On Friday, his nine strikeouts were two more than his previous career high, and he induced 16 swinging strikes, more than any other outing of his career.
“It just gives him way more margin. Early on, his first four of five starts, there were a lot of balls in play, some soft contact, balls right at guys. Obviously you’re bringing the fielders into play,” Roberts said. “Tonight was probably his best outing. When you can take out the fielders, get the swing-and-miss, the strikeouts. He had nine strikeouts tonight, a really dominant performance against a good ball club.”
