Zack Wheeler's salty All-Star refusal gives Dodgers fans more reason to be happy for Justin Wrobleski

Justin Wrobleski had no issue airing out his frustrations about being passed over in All-Star considerations. After the first round of replacements left him out, he said, "You want to be an All-Star. It's something that, regardless of the year, whenever, it's always a big deal. It's something I wanted to do. It's frustrating to not get that nod."

Up to that point, Wrobleski had a 2.80 ERA in 100⅓ innings. He followed it up with seven scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 2.69. He's been the Los Angeles Dodgers' third-best starter behind Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto by an impressively close margin.

It was probably some combination of good performance, Wrobleski advocating for himself, and NL All-Star manager Dave Roberts advocating for him, but four days later, he was officially named to the National League All-Star team as a replacement for Chase Burns, who reported groin discomfort in his latest start for the Cincinnati Reds.

Wrobleski, presumably, accepted his invitation happily. The same can't be said for Philadelphia Phillies' starter Zack Wheeler, who also made an incredibly public show of not being selected for the All-Star Game, but when the time came for the league to give him what he asked for, he decided he was above it.

Wrobleski and Foster Griffin took over for Burns and Braxton Ashcraft, but Wheeler could've been in one of those spots. MLB offered him one, but he declined. "They disrespected me, so I’m not going to participate," he said.

Zack Wheeler's hissy fit over All-Star snub may have directly opened the door for Justin Wrobleski

How soft does a 36-year-old man have to be to throw a tantrum and turn down the recognition he specifically asked for, for a game being held his home ballpark? Phillies fans adore Wheeler to the extent that they once accused the Dodgers of poking fun at his thoracic outlet syndrome for tweeting "Wheels up to Philly" (that's still ridiculous, by the way), but it's hard to see how even they could get on board with this.

Oh, well. Wheeler deciding to be a diva directly benefitted the Dodgers. Griffin has been lights out for the Washington Nationals — even better than Wrobleski, we have to admit — so it's very possible that he might've gotten the nod over Wrobleski if Wheeler had accepted.

So thanks, Wheeler, for refusing an honor you literally begged for. Dodgers fans will have a great time watching our six (seven, if you count Roberts) All-Stars represent LA proudly.

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