The Toronto Blue Jays have enjoyed a strong start to the season, sweeping the Athletics in their first series and earning a win against the Colorado Rockies shortly after news surfaced that starter Cody Ponce would miss at least a significant portion of the season with a knee injury.
And while some wins to open up the campaign are always valuable for a team with World Series aspirations, fans of the Blue Jays can’t help but look ahead in the calendar to an upcoming series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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The last time the teams faced off was in Game 7 of the Fall Classic, which reached extra innings before the Blue Jays ultimately fell to the Dodgers as they won their second straight championship.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Justin Wrobleski Sends Toronto Blue Jays Message After World Series Game 7 Heroics
Now the team is looking for better results when the Dodgers visit Toronto in the upcoming series. But at least one key member of the Dodgers’ pitching staff doesn’t expect to be fazed by any hostile reactions from the crowd.
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“It’s gonna be great,” Justin Wrobleski said when asked about the team’s upcoming series against the Blue Jays in Toronto during a segment with SportsNet LA. “They’re going to boo me and it’s going to be really awesome. But that’s what makes sports great, I think. If you pull for a team, and if I were a Toronto fan, I probably wouldn’t like me either. So I completely understand. But yeah, it’s cool, what’s cool about sports is the passion that the fans have.”
The last time the Blue Jays saw Wrobleski, he enjoyed a surprisingly strong performance under some significant pressure. In four World Series games, he gave up just four hits and no runs, logging six strikeouts across five innings of relief.
Blue Jays players might also remember Wrobleski for a controversial moment.
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“Benches and bullpens cleared after Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez was hit in the right hand by a fastball from Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski in the fourth inning (of Game 7),” AJ Cassavell wrote for MLB.com. “Wrobleski came inside on Giménez on the previous pitch as well, and Giménez appeared to motion his hand toward the ball as it rode up and in.”
After Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers Benches Clear In World Series, Justin Wrobleski Thinks Rogers Centre Is ‘Super Cool’ Place To Play
Wrobleski’s debut this season hasn’t been as strong as his World Series performance, as he gave up three earned runs in just four innings against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. But he seems optimistic about facing the Blue Jays and returning to the place where he enjoyed some postseason success.
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“It’s super cool, I’m super excited, it’s a great place to play, they really like baseball over there,” Wrobleski told SportsNet LA. “Anytime you can perform when the team puts you in big spots like that, it’s big… Them showing the trust in me was super helpful for me.”
This article was originally published on Forbes.com