It is getting to that point in Spring Training where the focus shifts to providing Major League players with ample opportunities to fully prepare for Opening Day. As such, the Los Angeles Dodgers sent 20 players to Minor League camp following their walk-off win on Saturday night.
All five of members of the Dodgers starting rotation look to be set and locked in, as manager Dave Roberts implied that the rotation order will be Clayton Kershaw followed by Alex Wood, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Another pitcher that is being built up as a starter this spring is Ross Stripling, who will once again be the swingman for the Dodgers, coming out of the bullpen but also making spot starts when needed.
So far this spring Stripling has come out of the bullpen twice and started one game. It looks like his fourth appearance will be another start as he is set to take the mound Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Ross Stripling throws a bullpen session today and will start Wednesday night.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 11, 2018
Wood’s turn in the rotation comes on Tuesday, but the Dodgers have an off-day for the first time this spring that day. So his next time pitching will instead come Wednesday in a ‘B’ game at Camelback Ranch, during which Kenley Jansen and Josh Fields are also expected to pitch:
Woods starts “B” game. Jansen, Fields also will pitch.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 11, 2018
Wood looked like his 2017 self in his last outing, pitching four shutout innings while allowing just two hits and striking out five.
Stripling has also been sharp so far this spring, giving up just two hits and a run while striking out five in five innings of work.
