Welcome to The California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.
Justin Wrobleski (1 start, 6 innings, 0 runs this week; 5-0, 1.25 ERA this season)
The Dodgers can’t demote Justin Wrobleski, can they?
By continuing his spectacular early-season run, the 25-year-old Wrobleski might have saved his job. Blake Snell should be activated from the injured list following a rehab start this weekend. If back problems don’t force Tyler Glasnow to skip his next start, someone from the group of Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki will be pushed out of the rotation.
As harder throwers with larger frames, Sheehan and Sasaki look more like prototypical frontline starters, but how can you argue with the results? In the five games Wrobleski has started this season, he has a 0.56 ERA.
His most recent victory was Sunday in St. Louis, as he blanked the Cardinals over six innings to snap the Dodgers’ four-game losing streak. The Dodgers’ scuffling offense wasn’t terrible in that game but didn’t light up the scoreboard, either. The 4-1 win marked the sixth game in a row in which the Dodgers didn’t hit a home run.
Once again, Wrobleski’s inability to miss bats was a storyline, as the left-hander became the first Dodgers pitcher in 25 years to pitch six shutout innings without registering a strikeout. Wrobleski continues to be viewed with suspicion, as evaluators around the game wonder if his pitch-to-contact style is bound to get him in trouble.
“I’m out there trying to get outs,” Wrobleski said. “However I get them, that’s great.”
As long as he gets them, he’s here to stay, regardless what happens with Snell and Glasnow in the next week.
“Every start he makes, I feel good about us winning a game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So that’s most important.”
Andy Pages (10-for-25, 3 HR, 8 RBIs this week; .336 average, .945 OPS, 8 HR, 33 RBI this season)
In a lineup full of superstars and former MVPs, Pages might be becoming the team’s most pivotal hitter.
Consider: In the club’s 23 wins this year, he has eight home runs, 32 RBIs and a 1.097 OPS. In the team’s 14 losses, he has no homers, one RBI and a .680 OPS.
Another way to think about it: When Pages has an RBI, the team is 13-1. When he doesn’t, they are 10-13.
So, is it really, as Pages goes, so do the Dodgers? With so many others having scuffled this year, it has at least felt that way.
Which made this week a refreshing return to form for the 25-year-old slugger. After watching his blistering start to the season cool off over a 19-game stretch in which he batted .221 with a .556 OPS, Pages rebounded with back-to-back three-hit games Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the first one, he had three singles. In the next, he hit three homers. Guess which one the Dodgers won and lost.
“[I’m] just having a lot of confidence in what I’m doing up there,” Pages said through an interpreter after Wednesday’s game. “And being optimistic that the plan and the approach is going to come with results.”
Indeed, Pages said his refined approach this year, which helped him bat over .400 through his first 19 games, was tested during his recent cold spell –– when he felt like he “was hitting the ball well and hitting the ball hard, just not finding a lot of holes.”
“I was just trying to stay confident in that approach,” Pages added. “Keeping that mentality that things were going to come and turn in the right direction.”
Based on this last week, which has also seen Pages record a hit in eight straight games, they have once again. It could be a major boon to the Dodgers’ efforts to reignite their offense.
Mike Sirota (7-for-14, 4 HR, 6 RBIs this week; .329 average, 1.157 OPS, 6 HR, 15 RBIs in High-A this season)
During a doubleheader with the High-A Great Lakes Loons last week, the 22-year-old Sirota had a career afternoon.
He homered three times between the two games and reached base in six of his eight plate appearances.
It was the kind of performance that epitomized Sirota’s potential, as a versatile outfield prospect whom the Dodgers acquired from the Reds for Gavin Lux a couple offseasons ago.
The Northeastern University product impressed in his first season with the club last year, hitting .333 with 13 home runs between Single- and High-A before a knee injury ended his campaign in July. This year, he seems to be picking up where he left off, standing out as one of many talented outfielders in the club’s farm system off to a hot start.
(Where we identify a potential Dodgers’ future acquisition –– sometimes far-fetched, sometimes not)
Tarik Skubal, Tigers (ETA: 2027)
Skubal was previously mentioned in this section, but his entry has to be updated.
The prediction last time was that the Tigers would be out of contention by the trade deadline and would trade the impending free agent in August. Skubal recently underwent a procedure to remove loose bodies from his elbow and might not return before the trade deadline, which decreases the chances of the Tigers dealing him.
Ironically, the procedure could actually increase his chances of pitching for the Dodgers. If Skubal doesn’t look like his usual self upon his return, teams might be reluctant to offer him the monster deal he was expected to sign before his injury. The Dodgers could have an opportunity to sign Skubal to a short-term deal with a record-breaking average annual value.
Are the Dodgers out of their offensive slump?
They sure hope so, after snapping a recent 5-9 slide (in which they averaged barely four runs per game) by winning three of their last four on this week’s road trip (while averaging more than six runs per game).
The recent 3-1 spurt also included three 10-hit performances, matching the number they had in their 14-game rut previously. They also finally started hitting some homers again, racking up five during a three-game series in Houston after hitting just three in their prior 12 contests.
The real answer to this question, however, will likely come this weekend when the Dodgers host the Braves (26-12), MLB’s joint-winningest team. In that series, they will face former Cy Young winner Chris Sale, former All-Star Spencer Strider and early-season breakout star Bryce Elder.
This tough task will truly show if the Dodgers are back on track at the plate.
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