With an abundance of injuries to the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation, swingman Ross Stripling has received an increased workload as a starter during the month of May.
Stripling was initially included on the Dodgers roster as a reliever but nevertheless has thrived in his newfound opportunity in the rotation thus far.
He impressed in his latest start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, allowing just one run over seven innings pitched with nine strikeouts en route to an 8-2 victory. It was the third consecutive outing in which Stripling yielded one run or less while tallying at least nine strikeouts.
After the game, Stripling revealed that he is beginning to get accustomed to a regular role in the starting rotation, via Michael Duarte of NBC Los Angeles:
“I think so. My mentality has kind of been like a bullpen guy a little bit from the start, where I’m just kind of throwing everything full-go. And going until I fatigue out or until they take me out. I don’t think I’m doing the whole traditional starter thing where it’s like I’m trying to hold something in my back pocket and maybe show it to them the third time around. I’m just kind of coming at you with what I’ve got. So far it’s been working. I feel like a starter, I feel like i’ve been able to get guys out third time through he lineup. I don’t know what the numbers are but I feel like I’m hanging in there for three times, which is something to say. Nowadays that doesn’t happen too much.”
To no surprise, the right-hander believes he is gaining confidence with each successful start.
Since entering the starting rotation on a full-time basis, Stripling has compiled a minuscule 1.24 ERA and 0.97 WHIP across 29 innings pitched with 40 strikeouts to only four walks.
All-in-all this season, Stripling owns a career-best 1.68 ERA, 2.16 FIP and 1.14 WHIP over 48.1 innings with 11 strikeouts per nine. Moreover, he has accumulated 1.6 WAR (FanGraphs) for his efforts — good for 16th most among pitchers who have logged a minimum of 40 innings.
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