As the Los Angeles Dodgers remained hopeful Clayton Kershaw would return from shoulder inflammation in time for Opening Day and that Walker Buehler would overcome being slow-played, manager Dave Roberts named Ross Stripling first in line to fill a void in the rotation.
Assuming full health, the Dodgers anticipated having Kershaw, Buehler, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill as their five starters at the beginning of the 2019 season. Thus, Stripling was earmarked for a spot in the bullpen on the Opening Day roster.
But his services were needed in the starting rotation, as both Kershaw and Hill began the regular season on the 10-day injured list. With Kershaw having returned and Hill poised to be activated Sunday, Stripling made his final start for the foreseeable future on Thursday.
He only went 4.2 innings but succeeded in pitching around traffic as the Dodgers were slow to provide run support. Following their win, Stripling discussed his focus with the start and mindset moving forward, via SportsNet LA:
“What I’ve said all along is you want to leave a good imrpession in their minds — the coaching staff, front office, everybody. So that when another opportunity comes up, my name’s in the hat as much as anybody else. Obviously, Julio is down there, and then myself, now we’ve got to stay built up so when an opportunity comes up — because it’s inevitable that it will — that one of us is ready, so that they trust us to fill in rather than calling someone up or whatever the case may be. I’ll go down there if that’s what they want and we’ll get after guys out of the bullpen and get outs there and just be ready for an opportunity if it comes up.”
The Cubs tallied five hits and one walk against Stripling, but he also struck out six to keep them off the board. He benefitted from Javier Baez getting thrown out on his stolen base attempt after the Cubs hit back-to-back two-out singles in the first inning.
Then when consecutive base hits put runners at the corners with one out in the second, Stripling fielded a comebacker and threw to home plate to nab Jason Heyward in a pickle. Stripling later did his part to help strand Schwarber’s leadoff double in the fourth by retiring the next two batters faced.
He heads to the bullpen having gone 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over six starts this season. While not having a dedicated role as a starter or relief pitcher bothered Stripling in the past, he’s learned to embrace the versatility and find comfort in knowing that’s how the Dodgers value him.
“I’m like the Kiké of the pitching staff; I can kind of do it all,” Stripling recently told DodgerBlue.com.
