Ross Stripling, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
OK, so the trade was killed by Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno. It’s DOA, done, mort, finished, done, kaput.
But stranger things have happened in baseball than the idea that Ross Stripling might still find his way down the 5 from Dodger Stadium to Angel Stadium of Anaheim even after the proposed deal that would have sent the righthander along with Joc Pederson to the Angels was nixed.
While Dodgers general manager Andrew Friedman says the trade talk is gone and Stripling will be an important piece for the club, it wouldn’t be unheard of for the talks to pick back up at some point.
While there were rumors of additional trades, Andrew Friedman says Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling will be important pieces of the Dodgers this year.@Dodgers | #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/aQD7H3ulFJ
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 12, 2020
Stripling, however, is not really a prospect anymore, despite having just four seasons under his belt. At age 30, he was a late bloomer in the Dodgers organization after being selected in the fifth round of the 2012 June Amateur Draft from Texas A&M.
He was 26 before he made his big-league debut in April 2016 and has done more relieving than starting over his career, with 52 starts in 136 career appearances.
Last season, Stripling started 15 times in 32 appearances and had a 3.47 ERA and 1.147 WHIP in 90.2 innings, striking out 93 and walking 20 while surrendering 11 home runs. He was an All-Star in 2018 after posting a 2.08 ERA and 1.080 WHIP in 95.1 innings, but collapsed to a 6.41 ERA and 1.575 WHIP in 26.2 innings after the break.
In his 15 starts last season, Stripling had a 3.60 ERA and 1.129 WHIP in 70 innings, fanning 71 and walking just 14, allowing 10 homers in that role.
He was limited to just one postseason appearance, working the sixth inning of Los Angeles’ Game 4 loss to the Washington Nationals in the NLDS, giving up one run on one hit in his one inning.