In a vacuum, removing rookie Ross Stripling from a no-hit bid in his Major League debut with just five outs to get, is ludicrous. Well folks, we don’t live in a vacuum.
Back on planet earth, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts couldn’t have been more right when he called the decision a “no-brainer.”
In what appeared to be the opening act in a weekend show that was 24 hours away from the Clayton Kershaw-Madison Bumgarner headliner, Matt Cain and Stripling probably weren’t giving many the warm-fuzzies.
And then, Stripling got a bunch of outs without giving up any hits. Stripling, once a decent prospect for the Dodgers, backed into the No. 5 starter position after just about all other options capable of filling that slot limped their way onto the disabled list.
So, yeah, watching him pitch in San Francisco one week into the 2016 season didn’t exactly alert many that history was on the horizon.
And yet, it was.
In the modern era, no pitcher had ever gone more than five innings without allowing a hit in their debut. Through 77 pitches, Stripling had more than broken the record with six no-hit innings, bringing all eyes from across the country onto him.
Having retired eight in a row, Stripling walked Hunter Pence on five pitches to start the bottom of the seventh. And with that, the first sign of cracks began to show. Have no fear, though, because after a borderline strike call prevented Brandon Belt from walking.
Belt then grounded into a double play to relieve the pressure. After Matt Duffy grounded out to end the inning, Stripling was just six outs away.
CONTINUE READING: Dave Roberts made the correct decision in removing Ross Stripling
The thing was, I’m not sure anyone watching the game had supreme confidence in Stripling to get six more outs in this one. In fact, I went so far as to joke that I wanted Kenley Jansen to come in to record the last six outs of the game.
Alas, Roberts let Stripling go back out there in the eighth, and he got Brandon Crawford to fly out to open the inning. Next up was Angel Pagan, who walked on five pitches (although ball four was pretty darn close to a strike). And that was that for Mr. Striping.
After 100 pitches and just five outs away from a no-hitter, Ross Stripling was done.
And Twitter just about exploded.
Not with rational thought or reasoned arguments, of course, but with the hottest of hot takes fueled purely by emotions. From former players to national writers to LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke, it seemed no one agreed with Roberts’ first big decision as Dodger manager.
You know, except those who understood what they were looking at. These were the folks who knew that Stripling was just 71.1 innings removed from Tommy John surgery in 2014. These were the observers who recognized that having thrown 100 pitches on Friday, Stripling had thrown more pitches in any of the 40 professional starts he had made in his entire career.
Or how about those who that realized that Stripling had thrown just 58 strikes on Friday night? That he had allowed four baserunners on the night — including two walks in his last six batters? Or even just the fact that this was Stripling’s first start of the season after pitching more than two innings just once all spring?
And just for good measure, let’s not forget: we’re talking about a two-run game, on the road, in the pouring rain. But hey, as my dad always said, ‘Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.’
Yes, Chris Hatcher came in and gave up the game-tying home run, and yes Joe Blanton allowed a walk-off home run in the 10th inning, but neither of those things change the fact that Roberts unequivocally made the correct decision.
You make the decision and take your chances; just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call. The Dodgers need Stripling to be healthy for the next couple of months while they await the rest of their rotation’s return to health.
In fact, if Stripling is going to pitch anything like this in the Majors, they’re going to need him the next few years — something they surely were thinking when they decided 100 pitches was enough for the night.
So, yes, Roberts was right on Friday night. And, well, he lost anyways.