Justin Wrobleski is no stranger to the bright lights and hostile crowds of Toronto. As the Los Angeles Dodgers prepare to face the Blue Jays on Monday night at Rogers Centre, the left-hander is set for his first start of the 2026 season—a moment filled with echoes of last autumn’s unforgettable World Series showdown. For Dodgers fans, and perhaps even more so for Blue Jays supporters, Wrobleski’s return to the mound in Toronto is loaded with drama, history, and the promise of more fireworks.
To set the stage, it’s impossible to ignore what happened just a few months ago. On November 2, 2025, Game 7 of the World Series unfolded as an instant classic, with the Dodgers ultimately clinching a 5-4 victory in 11 innings. The night was packed with twists, but one moment in the fourth inning still ripples through both clubhouses: Justin Wrobleski, then a bullpen arm, fired a 96 mph fastball that hit Andrés Giménez square on the hand. The benches cleared, words flew, and the game’s emotional temperature soared. "He got mad that I hit him," Wrobleski recalled after the game, offering a candid take on the incident. "I wasn’t trying to hit him. He was trying to get hit, and then he got hit and proceeded to tell me whatever he told me."
That dust-up wasn’t just about a bruised hand or a few heated words. The Dodgers were trailing 3-1, the Toronto crowd was deafening, and Los Angeles needed a spark. Wrobleski’s brush with Giménez—intentional or not—provided just that. The incident seemed to jolt the Dodgers awake, shifting the momentum in their favor. Max Muncy, who pulled Wrobleski away from the fray to keep him from being ejected, later explained, “The umpires all came up to me, and they were like, ‘If you didn’t get him out of there we were probably going to have to toss him.’ Because you know how that goes, with the instigation rules. If you’re the guy that instigates it, then you’re usually the one who gets tossed, even though it’s not your fault.”
Wrobleski, undeterred, stayed in the game even after being clipped in the leg by a George Springer line drive. He managed to strike out Nathan Lukes, keeping the Dodgers’ hopes alive. Manager Dave Roberts then turned to Tyler Glasnow, who stranded two runners and helped keep the game within reach. The Dodgers’ resilience—on full display that night—has become their calling card.
From that point on, the Dodgers clawed their way back. Max Muncy homered in the eighth, narrowing the gap. Then, in a moment that will live forever in Los Angeles lore, Miguel Rojas smashed a game-tying home run in the ninth, sending the contest into extra innings. Will Smith delivered the final blow with a go-ahead homer in the 11th, sealing the Dodgers’ back-to-back championship and breaking Toronto hearts once again. As MLB’s own Game 7 recap declared, it was an “instant classic.”
Yet, as much as the home runs and late-inning heroics grabbed headlines, it’s the bench-clearing fourth inning that many players and fans point to as the real turning point. “You kind of saw it coming,” reliever Will Klein said after the series. “We cleared with them and Hoffman was kind of yelling at Miggy and Kirby (Yates), and he was the first to walk away. And it was like does he have it? If you’re going to talk crap and walk away… It was kind of inevitable Miggy was going to go and hit that off of him.” The poetic justice of Rojas homering off Jeff Hoffman—one of the main antagonists during the fracas—was not lost on anyone in the Dodgers clubhouse.
Wrobleski himself reflected on the mayhem with a mix of disbelief and acceptance. “Crazy that it happened,” he said during the postgame celebration. “I don’t think that has ever happened to me in my career. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone do that to me, but whatever. It’s part of it.” For a team loaded with stars like Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, it’s often the unsung heroes—players like Wrobleski—who step into chaos and keep the dream alive just long enough for history to be made.
Fast-forward to April 6, 2026. The Dodgers are back in Toronto, and Wrobleski is set to start the series opener. This time, he’s not just a bullpen option—he’s a key piece of the Dodgers’ evolving rotation. Manager Dave Roberts announced last week that Wrobleski would be moving from the bullpen to the starting rotation during this road trip, a move designed to help the team transition from a five-man to a six-man rotation. With ace Blake Snell still sidelined by a shoulder injury and no immediate return in sight, Wrobleski has a golden opportunity to cement his place as a regular starter.
“A strong showing against the Blue Jays would keep Wrobleski well positioned to earn additional starts,” noted several reports leading up to Monday’s game. The Dodgers’ pitching staff is in a period of transition, and Wrobleski’s performance could shape the team’s approach for weeks to come. With Snell’s timeline uncertain, Wrobleski might just have the leash he needs to prove he belongs in the rotation for good.
There’s no question that Toronto fans will remember Wrobleski for his role in last year’s Game 7 drama. Boos are expected, and the Rogers Centre crowd will surely try to rattle him. But as Wrobleski himself pointed out, there’s something he has that those fans don’t—a World Series ring. The emotional intensity, the willingness to stand his ground, and the ability to perform under pressure have all become hallmarks of his young career.
As the Dodgers and Blue Jays square off again, the stakes are different but the energy remains electric. Los Angeles is looking to continue its winning ways, while Toronto hopes to exact a measure of revenge. For Wrobleski, it’s another chance to show that he can thrive when the spotlight is brightest—and when the crowd is loudest.
Baseball is a game of moments—some beautiful, some messy, all unforgettable. Whether or not Monday night produces another instant classic remains to be seen. But with Justin Wrobleski on the mound, fans on both sides can count on a game packed with emotion, grit, and the ever-present possibility of a little more history.
As the first pitch approaches, all eyes are on Wrobleski and the Dodgers’ new-look rotation. The echoes of last year’s World Series still linger in the air, and Toronto is ready to make some noise. But if there’s one thing the Dodgers have shown, it’s that they’re never out of the fight—especially when the game turns wild.