In need of a fresh arm in the bullpen as they near the conclusion of a nine-game road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers recalled Ross Stripling from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday and optioned Grant Dayton to OKC.
Dayton joined the Dodgers on Thursday and made his Major League debut in Friday’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. The left-hander entered in the 11th inning and collected to strikeouts over two scoreless innings.
The lone baserunner Dayton allowed came on a hit by pitch as he grazed Greg Garcia’s jersey with two outs in the 12th inning. Garcia was stranded as Tommy Pham struck out swinging.
Stripling was named the Dodgers’ fifth starter prior to the 2016 season but was optioned May 23 after throwing three innings of emergency relief duty the day prior to help the Dodgers outlast the San Diego Padres in 17 innings.
The relief appearance eliminated Stripling from making his next turn in the rotation, which prompted the roster move. He went 2-3 with a 4.53 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in nine games (eight starts) during his time up with the Dodgers.
After being optioned to Oklahoma City, Stripling made one start and spent the next month on the disabled list. Along with recovering from lower-body fatigue, it also served as a means for the organization to limit his workload.
Stripling went 0-2 with a 4.61 ERA in four games (three starts) after rejoining Oklahoma City in late June. He last appeared in a game for OKC on July 16, starting and allowing four runs on seven hits in four innings. Stripling was scratched from a scheduled start on Friday.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said last month he envisioned Stripling rejoining the Dodgers at some point this season, either as a starter or reliever.
