Embracing a challenging swing role, Stripling is ready to be what the Blue Jays need

TORONTO — The vast pitching depth of the Los Angeles Dodgers meant that, in the spring of 2016, Ross Stripling arrived at camp worried about securing a spot at triple-A Oklahoma City and avoiding a return to double-A Tulsa. Instead, when a number of injuries opened a pathway to the No. 5 spot in the big-league rotation, the then 26-year-old seized the opportunity and he impressed immediately, with 7.1 no-hit innings at the San Francisco Giants in his debut.

Six weeks later, Stripling was demoted to limit his workload after Tommy John surgery and returned only in late July, bouncing between roles, with six of his final 13 outings starts.  The next year, when Dodgers starters — including Hyun Jin Ryu — returned to health, all but two of his 49 games came out of the bullpen. In 2018, he began as a reliever, reeled off a 13-start stretch that earned him an all-star selection, later returned to the bullpen, worked through a couple of injuries and was eventually left off the Dodgers’ post-season roster.

It's in those days that the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander learned to both accept and manage the challenging and hugely important swingman role. A week and a half into the new season, the value of his versatility is already on display, with two relief outings and one spot start preceding his upcoming move into the rotation to cover for an injured Ryu.

Stripling is slated to start Friday at the Houston Astros, the latest twist in his be-ready-for-anything-anytime baseball life.

“I embrace it,” Stripling says. “My wife will say things like, ‘You deserve to be a starter,’ and I don't disagree with that. I think have the arsenal to be a big-league starter, but I have embraced this role. I know it's very valuable. I know that there's also a very good chance that I have a year like last year where I make 19 starts because of injuries or because I throw well and I just take over that job. So I don't view it as a demotion or a promotion one way or the other.

“I view it as there’s going to be 100 to 150 innings that need to be filled and I'm the perfect guy for that job. I've never thrown 150 innings in the big-leagues and stayed healthy so you could argue that my niche is the 100-125-inning role. I just take a lot of pride in being that guy and doing it with a smile on my face and keeping us in ballgames all the time. That's my job.”

Not everyone would do it with such a sunny disposition.

Mentally, the mix of personal ambition, insecurity and prioritizing team-over-individual need can be a volatile mix, especially when there are implications on future earning power. Then there’s the physical challenge of transitioning between sporadic 30-40 pitch outings to 100 pitches every five days, and doing it while staying healthy.

So it’s with good reason that pitching coach Pete Walker says, “it's one of the more difficult roles in baseball.”

“You have to have the mentality for it,” he continues. “You have to understand why it's important and see the value in it. Strip understands all that. But it is difficult to go back and forth. It's difficult from a routine standpoint. There's a definite mindset that you need. You have to be very open to making adjustments and change and not overthink things.”

Stripling draws upon his experience with the Dodgers for that.

When he broke through in 2016, he was behind Clayton Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Scott Kazmir and Alex Wood, with Ryu, Brendan McCarthy, Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger among those on the shelf. Rich Hill, a deadline add that summer, returned in 2017 when Ryu also rejoined the rotation, Walker Buehler entered the mix in 2018 along with Julio Urias and Dustin May in the coming seasons.

The Dodgers made roster surplus an organizational ethos and everyone had to buy in.

“Look at those teams — it was just obvious that when guys are healthy, I wasn't going to be a starter,” says Stripling. “What kept me in the big-leagues was the ability to go to the bullpen and get outs there in long relief or whenever called upon and then be able to fill in when those guys needed a break or someone got hurt. That's an easy thing to wrap your head around, like I either go to triple-A and be a starter or I stay in the big leagues and play in Los Angeles for a team that's going to win 100 games and chase a ring.”

Now 32, with 175 games, 81 starts, under his belt in the majors, that thought process lingers.

“I don't feel any entitlement to be a starter,” Stripling explains. “Where people get wrapped up in this, it's almost like, 'I have the stuff to be a starter,’ or ‘I want to be a starter, I deserve an opportunity to be a starter.’ I don't think I've ever felt that entitlement. I've never been a No. 1 prospect. I've never been a top dog where it's like, I deserve my shot as a starter. I don't have that ego to it that some guys have in this role. I'm just kind of happy to be here and happy to take the ball in any situation and that goes with my personality. That fits the nature of the role.”

Since coming over in a 2020 deadline deal with the Dodgers, Stripling has made 22 starts in 32 appearances for the Blue Jays. Last season, over 14 outings from May 24 to Aug. 10, he posted a 3.29 ERA over 68.1 innings, providing a pillar of stability during an uneasy stretch for the rotation.

This season, with a rotation of Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Alek Manoah, Yusei Kikuchi and Ryu, Stripling and Nate Pearson were slated for swing roles. Pearson is essentially at the beginning of spring training after coming down with mono, so when Ryu went down, Stripling was the clear choice.

“Strip to me is a very viable option as a starting pitcher,” says Walker. “I think back to last year, he made some adjustments and he reeled off period of starts where he was one of our better starters. We've seen him really good. The fact that he is so versatile sometimes puts him in a position to easily move back and forth.”

And once again that’s what he’s doing, taking the ball from the Blue Jays in whatever role is needed.