The bizarre and surprising offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers continued its trend on Friday when the team named rookie Ross Stripling as the No. 5 starter in the rotation. Manager Dave Roberts indicated recently that Zach Lee and Carlos Frias were competing for that job.
Stripling, 26, was not listed on the team's depth chart throughout spring training and he has yet to pitch a game above Double-A. He was even surprised with the Dodgers' decision.
"I didn't honestly think I had much of a chance," he told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. "My goal was just to prove I could pitch."
Roberts said, "This is what we see in the near term as far as Ross taking the ball every fifth day," and that it was a "necessity for him to start the season" with the Dodgers due to the state of the team's rotation.
The Dodgers selected Stripling in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of Texas A&M University and the right-hander has logged 55 games in the minors over that span. He's 12-10 with a 2.83 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 213 strikeouts in 235-1/3 innings. He missed the entire 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and he made just 14 starts (3.88 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) in his first season back last year.
The 26-year-old made only one start this spring in addition to three relief appearances. He allowed five earned runs on eight hits and four walks in 11 innings. However, he struck out 11 batters, maintained a 1.09 WHIP and his opponents hit just .200 off him.
Early on Friday it was reported that Lee was no longer a candidate to make the rotation (he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City over a week ago). The team also plans to option Frias to Triple-A, where he will reportedly start the year as a starter there, even though he was a finalist for the fifth spot.
With injuries to Brett Anderson, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Mike Bolsinger, Los Angeles once again surprised baseball and made Stripling the first Dodgers' pitcher since Don Sutton to make his MLB debut without accruing any service time.
We'll see how this works out for the team as Stripling will likely get the ball on Friday, April 8, against the San Francisco Giants.
