The Los Angeles Dodgers’ bats powered the way to a victory on Monday night, as the team hit four home runs in a 7-6 with over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Ross Stripling, who was coming off a rough appearance in his first career All-Star Game when he allowed back-to-back home runs to Alex Bregman and George Springer of the Houston Astros, was roughed up a bit again on Monday.
Stripling lasted just 4.2 innings against the Phillies, giving up seven hits and five runs while striking out six without allowing a walk. The start marked the first start since May 6, which was his second of the season when he was on a pitch count, that Stripling was not able to get out of the fifth inning.
Stripling gave up just one run in his first four innings of work, but then ran into trouble in the fifth when he surrendered a three-run home run to Rhys Hoskins followed by a go-ahead, solo shot to Odubel Herrera.
Despite the poor outing, Stripling does not feel that fatigue is playing a factor in his recent struggles, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“I’m never going to tell you I’m fatigued or struggling,” said Stripling. “I’ve never approached this many innings post-surgery [Tommy John]. I did in college, so I know what it feels like. The last couple of starts, even though some of the numbers have been good, [I’ve been] giving up more hits, not striking out as many. Don’t know if they know what’s coming a little bit or fatigue mixed in, but I feel fine. That’s not an excuse I’m going to use for any outcome.”
While he may not want to it admit it, Stripling is reaching unchartered water as far as innings thrown in the Major Leagues. He was on an innings limit coming off Tommy John surgery in 2016 when he threw 100 innings for the Dodgers.
He then was mainly a reliever last season, only logging 74.1 innings at the Major league level. Stripling is now right at 100-inning mark this season, with still two months of the regular season plus a potential postseason still to go.
So it will be interesting to see how the Dodgers handle Stripling moving forward if he continues to struggle. Particularly if they find themselves with an excess number of healthy starters.
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