Clayton Kershaw is breaking his cardinal rule to help standout Dodgers pitcher

Clayton Kershaw has always resisted the "mentor" label. The Dodgers had a lot of great pitchers come and go in his nearly two decades with the team, but Kershaw always preferred to befriend them than to guide them.

That isn't to say he was no help at all, of course. In 2024, he and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were spotted comparing pitch grips in the Dodgers' dugout. Dodgers fans have no doubt that if a young pitcher ever asked Kershaw for advice, he gave it. But overall, he seemed content to let others in the clubhouse take new guys under their wing.

However, he may be making an exception for Justin Wrobleski.

After Wrobleski's most recent start against the Cardinals on Sunday, Dave Roberts said, "He's got a great mentor in Clayton. 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.'"

Unsurprisingly, when talking about Kershaw, Wrobleski had the awe of a young player who spent his formative years watching a future Hall of Famer pitch.

"[Kershaw] was just going out there and kind of bullying guys with his stuff, not trying to trick anybody or do anything super out of the ordinary," he said. "He was just using his stuff the way he knew how and the way he knew equated to success. And he just did it over and over and over again and obviously perfected his craft at doing that."

Justin Wrobleski is channeling Clayton Kershaw in breakout season for Dodgers

Wrobleski has a 5-0 record and a 1.25 ERA through five starts (six appearances). He's making himself look invaluable to the Dodgers at just the right time; a roster crunch is incoming with Blake Snell about to come back from a rehab assignment. He's tied with Shohei Ohtani as the Dodgers' most valuable starting pitcher by bWAR.

But he does have a strikeout problem. In 36 innings, he's only struck out 15 batters while walking 10. He's getting his outs by inducing a lot of soft contact.

An out is an out, but if Wrobleski isn't missing bats, then he might not get as lucky as he's been in this first month and some change of the season. He's not overly concerned about it, though.

"I'm out there trying to get outs. However I get them, that's great," he said. "I think the strikeouts will come."

Kershaw, of course, is one of just 20 pitchers to rack up 3,000 strikeouts in his career, so there are still a few more cues for Wrobleski to take.

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