Despite a focus on adding pitching depth during the offseason, injuries during Spring Training to Brett Anderson, Mike Bolsinger and Brandon Beachy left the Los Angeles Dodgers without a fifth starter as the end of camp approached.
The job was given to 26-year-old Ross Stripling, who had yet to complete a full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2014. Moreover, Stripling had never pitched at the Major League level.
Those factors were quickly forgotten when Stripling put together an impressive MLB debut against the San Francisco Giants. He tossed 7.1 no-hit innings, with his bid for history cut short due to a high pitch count and shaky performance down the stretch of the outing.
Stripling struggled a bit in the starts that followed, though did generally manage to keep the Dodgers in the games he pitched. After appearing in relief over the final three innings of the marathon game against the San Diego Padres, Stripling was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
He’s scheduled to start on Saturday and will be held to an innings limit during his time in the Minors, according to Andy McCullough of the LA Times:
Ross Stripling says he was told to conserve his innings in the minors. He'll only throw three innings in his next start for OKC.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) May 23, 2016
At the time of naming Stripling the club’s fifth starter, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the right-hander would work on an innings limit this season. Roberts added this week the Dodgers intended to decrease Stripling’s workload around this time.
“All along, we were trying to figure out at some point in time at the end of May,” the first-year manager said. “Once he made our roster, trying to figure out how can curtail some innings in the middle of the season to then be able to use him in some capacity whether out of the pen or as a starter in August or September, whenever that time might be, and this made sense for us.”
Stripling was 2-3 with 4.53 ERA, 3.68 FIP and 1.36 WHIP over nine games (eight starts) with the Dodgers.
