Ross Stripling

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Stripling in the fifth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[3] He was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts in May 2013[4] and was selected to the mid-season Southern League All-Star Game.[5] He finished the season 6–4 with a 2.78 ERA in 21 games (16 starts).[6]

Stripling was given a non roster invitation to spring training in 2014, but came down with a sore arm after his first game action. He turned out to have a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery, causing him to miss the entire season.[7] He rejoined the AA Tulsa Drillers during mid-season in 2015 and finished 3–6 with a 3.88 ERA in 14 starts.[6] The Dodgers added Stripling to their 40-man roster after the season.[8]

Stripling made the Dodgers opening day roster for 2016 as the fifth starter.[9] After several injuries to established pitchers, he beat out other Dodgers prospects to make the roster.[10]

In his major league debut, against the San Francisco Giants on April 8, 2016, Stripling pitched ​7 ¹⁄₃ innings without giving up a hit but was removed for a relief pitcher after throwing 100 pitches. He struck out four and walked four, one of whom scored against the relief pitcher.[11] He picked up his first major league win against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 13, 2016.[12] He appeared in 22 games and made 14 starts for the Dodgers with a 5–9 record and 3.96 ERA.[13] He also appeared in relief in five post-season games for the Dodgers, allowing five runs in ​2 ²⁄₃ innings.[13]

Stripling became a key member of the bullpen in 2017 and picked up his first save on May 27, 2017, with three scoreless innings of relief against the Chicago Cubs.[14] He appeared in 49 games for the Dodgers that season, including two starts, and was 3–5 with a 4.15 ERA.[13] He pitched three scoreless innings over five games in the postseason, including appearing in three games of the 2017 World Series.[13]

Coming into the 2018 season and without a clear pathway to becoming a starting pitcher he, again, began to explore the idea of starting for another team but injuries to starting pitchers in April thrust him into a starting role after 15 innings of relief. After a bullpen session with pitching coach Rick Honeycutt he developed a hard curveball to add to his arsenal giving him a new look and making him one of the National Leagues ERA leaders at the break, earning him an All-Star nod for the first time in his career, replacing Miles Mikolas on the team, who was scheduled to pitch the Sunday prior to the All-Star Game.[15] He wound up pitching in 33 games for the Dodgers in 2018, including 21 starts, and was 8–6 with a 3.02 ERA.[13]

In 2019, he again alternated between starting and relieving, appearing in 32 games, 15 of them starts, and was 4–4 with a 3.47 ERA and 93 strikeouts.[13] Stripling agreed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $2.1 million, contract for 2020, avoiding arbitration.[16] In seven starts for the Dodgers in 2020, Stripling was 3–1 with a 5.61 ERA.[13]

On August 31, 2020, Stripling was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Kendall Williams and another player to be named later.[17] With the 2020 Toronto Blue Jays, Stripling appeared in five games, compiling a 0–2 record with 6.32 ERA and 13 strikeouts in ​15 ²⁄₃ innings pitched.[13]