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Dodgers 2019 Player Reviews: Ross Stripling

Jeff Spiegel
4 Min Read
Geoff Burke/USA TODAY Sports

In any other organization, Ross Stripling would be on a poster somewhere. For his career, Stripling has an impressive 3.51 ERA across 52 starts and 84 relief appearances.

Among Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers, he was fifth in WAR this past season (1.8) — again, despite bouncing randomly between the rotation and bullpen.

In 15 starts, Stripling posted a 3.60 ERA, striking out more than a batter per inning and posting a K/BB ratio of over 5/1. As a reliever his ERA dropped to 3.05, allowing just one home run in 17 appearances.

At 30 years old, Stripling isn’t a ‘prospect’ any more, and yet he still feels like someone with untapped potential should he ever find himself in the right situation. He feels like a pitcher who could be a No. 3 or 4 starter on a competitive team — the problem is that in Los Angeles, this isn’t a normal situation.

They value flexibility, they boast one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the league and they’re not afraid to mix things up.

Then again, Stripling’s success is probably owed in large part to the work this organization has done to develop him, and so it remains a chicken/egg situation. All in all, Stripling has been an important part of the Dodgers’ success — plugging holes where necessary and doing so rather successfully — and a guy who will continue to be that as long as he’s still around.

2019 highlight

A quick look at Stripling’s appearances made this an easy choice, but it requires going all the way back to April 14 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Stripling got the start and was magnificent — going eight innings and allowing just one run on four hits.

The Dodgers went on to win the game 7-1, improving Stripling’s record on the season to 1-1. The win also moved the Dodgers a game above .500, to 9-8 and within two games of the division-leading San Diego Padres.

2020 outlook

The answer here depends on where he’s playing. Like many other Dodgers, Stripling’s name is often part of trade packages — especially if they involve teams still interested in competing. As mentioned above, Stripling should be coveted by a number of teams in need of pitching depth, as he could step in to a back-of-the-rotation role at any time.

If he remains on the Dodgers, he’ll probably see a heavy dose of bullpen usage and the occasional spot start when injuries crop up. With the emergence of Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, it’s reasonable to expect the number of starts Stripling sees to decrease as time goes on.

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Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a local newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Dodgers and Raiders since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNation.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Dodger I'm going past and present (sort of) on this one. Recently, I was a die hard Yasiel Puig guy. The energy he played with was amazing and the hope and expectation he brought every single night was captivating. Whether it was a rifle from the warning track to throw a guy out at second, an aggressive bat flip or licking his bat, I was here for ALL of the Yasiel Puig era. Past tense, I'd go with Eric Gagné. This wasn't so much about Gagné himself as it was the experience of cheering for him. Yes, he was on steroids — but the dude was unlike any pitcher I've ever seen — he was NASTY. I still stand by the claim that if I needed one out and my life depended on it, and could choose any pitcher from any era to get me that out, I'm taking roided up Gagné in a heartbeat. Favorite Dodger Moment A few jump to mind immediately. Being born in November of 1988, I missed the last World Series by weeks — which also meant I didn't get to see the Dodgers win a playoff game until I was nearly 16. They had made the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, but were swept both times. In 2004, though, I got to see them win behind a complete game shutout from Jose Lima, and that was pretty freaking special. The next in-person moment that came to mind was the Manny Ramirez bobblehead night pinch-hit grand slam from 2009. Vin Scully claimed it was the loudest he had heard Dodger Stadium in 20 years, and it's hard to disagree. As far as ones I didn't get to see live, I'll throw one more out there: the back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs that tied a game against the Padres in 2006 (plus the walk-off from Nomar Garciaparra in extra innings) was an all-timer. Obviously, the impending Dodgers World Series will quickly jump to the top of this list...