When the Los Angeles Dodgers were missing four of their five starters due to injury during the first half of the season, no one stepped up for the team more than Ross Stripling.
Stripling moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation and not only ate up innings, but pitched like an ace. He was rewarded for that effort with his first career All-Star Game nomination.
As he has now logged a career high in innings pitched, Stripling hasn’t quite looked the same in his last few starts. He got roughed up a bit again on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, allowing up seven hits and four runs in four innings while striking out five and walking one in the 4-1 loss.
The team currently has six healthy starting pitchers, so eventually, someone is going to be moved to the bullpen. And it currently looks like Stripling is the leading candidate to make that move considering his history as a reliever and recent struggles.
If that were to happen, Stripling would not be happy about it, although he is willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“‘Disappointing’ is a decent word for it,” Stripling said, if he’s returned to the bullpen. “When I got moved to the bullpen [after Tommy John surgery] and it took a year and a half to get back in the rotation — and to think it could take that long again, [it] kind of stinks. I’m proud of the work I’ve done when guys got hurt. I feel like I stepped up and threw some big innings and hopefully they remember that. It’s kind of, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ I’ll take it, whatever it is and I’ll get guys out in whatever role and try to make my way back, if that’s the case.”
Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Alex Wood all turned in very strong outings their last time out, while Stripling has now given up four or more runs in three of his last five starts.
Stripling still boasts an impressive 2.68 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 119 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 104 innings on the season though, so the move may not be that simple for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the front office.
Fatigue could be playing a factor in his recent struggles, considering Stripling ranks second on the team in innings pitched. So, it would make sense to move him to the bullpen to lighten his workload for the rest of the season.
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