{"id":920188,"date":"2026-07-08T05:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T05:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/920188\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T05:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T05:32:17","slug":"shohei-ohtani-hits-300th-homer-justin-wrobleski-makes-all-star-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/920188\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani hits 300th homer, Justin Wrobleski makes All-Star case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, who on Tuesday became the first Japanese player to hit 300 home runs in MLB, the Dodgers had the first National League All-Star voted in this year.<\/p>\n

They still have a chance for a late addition.<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been lobbying for two members of his pitching staff to be named replacement players: left-handed starter Justin Wrobleski<\/a> and left-handed reliever Tanner Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be some changes and some talks here,\u201d Roberts said before the Dodgers\u2019 4-3 loss <\/a>against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. \u201cThere\u2019s continual talks about both guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, MLB announced replacements for three NL pitchers who won\u2019t be eligible to appear in the All-Star Game. Pittsburgh\u2019s Braxton Ashcraft, Philadelphia\u2019s Jes\u00fas Luzardo and St. Louis\u2019 Riley O\u2019Brien claimed spots as Pittsburgh\u2019s Paul Skenes, Milwaukee\u2019s Jacob Misiorowski and Miami Max Meyer bowed out.<\/p>\n

There should continue to be movement on the All-Star roster, especially on the pitching side, with rotation schedules limiting which starters can participate. Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, for example, is lined up to start Saturday, which may take him off the table for the All-Star Game next Tuesday.<\/p>\n

That could open the door for Wrobleski and Scott.<\/p>\n

Asked to make his pitch for Wrobleski, Roberts pointed to his ERA (2.69 after holding the Rockies to one run through seven innings), average of more than six innings per start and 10 wins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe run a six-man rotation, and I just don\u2019t want him to get dinged for not making a couple more starts that he potentially could have had,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI just think that he\u2019s performed enough to earn that opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd also, Tanner had a rough one [Monday], but I still think that \u2026 he\u2019s one of the elite relievers in the National League.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott, after notching just his second blown save Monday, compared to his 12 saves and 2.70 ERA, didn\u2019t have an opening to improve on his All-Star campaign Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Wrobleski, however, strengthened his.<\/p>\n

He stayed true to his identity, pounding the strike zone and inducing weak contact. That approach resulted in six hits and nine strikeouts. The only run he gave up came on a groundout in the sixth inning with runners on the corners.<\/p>\n

In a nod to Wrobleski\u2019s new nickname, \u201cThe Shark,\u201d coined by Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Mart\u00ednez, Dodger Stadium organist Dieter Ruehle played a snippet of the \u201cJaws\u201d theme to punctuate Wrobleski\u2019s punchouts, and as he walked off the mound for the last time.<\/p>\n

\"Justin <\/p>\n

Justin Wrobleski was great for seven innings Tuesday.<\/p>\n

(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Once Wrobleski\u2019s job was done, he paced in the dugout, interrupted once in a while by a hug or handshakes from a teammate. Catcher Dalton Rushing held his hand up to his forehead like a shark fin.<\/p>\n

The name and attacking reputation had stuck. Would it be enough for an All-Star nod?<\/p>\n

On the offensive side, Ohtani\u2019s leadoff homer made him the first player to notch 300 home runs and 100-plus stolen bases in his first nine MLB seasons, according to ESPN Insights. Tuesday was his 1,101st game with at least one plate appearance. By that measure, he was the fifth-fastest to 300 home runs, according to mlb.com<\/a> and Elias Sports Bureau, behind only Aaron Judge (953), Ralph Kiner (1,086), Ryan Howard (1,091) and Juan Gonz\u00e1lez (1,093).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re always talking about the 500 club,\u201d Roberts said this week of career achievements. \u201cAnd so for him to get to 300, given some of the time that he\u2019s missed with the surgeries, it\u2019s been pretty dang quick for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dodgers widened their lead to two runs but gave it up in the eighth on errors by Miguel Rojas and Alex Freeman, including as they scrambled to cover a wide-open third base on a sacrifice bunt.<\/p>\n

Right-hander Evan Phillips made his first major-league appearance in 14 months, after undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer, and recorded two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning. But the Dodgers offense didn\u2019t muster a comeback, as the top of the batting order went down in order with two runners on.<\/p>\n

Ohtani on track<\/p>\n

Ohtani is still in line to pitch Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Roberts said.<\/p>\n

The right biceps issue that flared in Ohtani\u2019s final at-bat last Friday, and sidelined him Saturday, raised the question of whether he should skip his last start before the All-Star break. But Roberts said Ohtani\u2019s catch play has been normal and he hasn\u2019t reported any concerns with his biceps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs he goes through the next couple days, if he doesn\u2019t feel great, we\u2019ll pivot, and we\u2019re prepared to pivot,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut as we sit here, I don\u2019t see that changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said he doesn\u2019t think Ohtani will pitch in the All-Star Game or participate in the home run derby. But he does expect him to take an at-bat or two as the NL\u2019s starting designated hitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understands the responsibility he has,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cSo I do think that there\u2019s a middle for what\u2019s best for him, what potentially could be downside, but also what\u2019s best for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In Shohei Ohtani, who on Tuesday became the first Japanese player to hit 300 home runs in MLB,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":920189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[12615,371497,1582,276,2442,472,5949,22796,2961,224,5337,5948,1266,18766,21700,26804,11539,4712,5618,22798],"class_list":["post-920188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-all-star-game","tag-all-star-nod","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-dodgers","tag-history","tag-home-run","tag-justin-wrobleski","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-loss","tag-mlb","tag-pirates","tag-pitch","tag-roberts","tag-shark","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-tuesday","tag-wrobleski"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116882726608830556","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/920189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}