Ross Stripling


Thomas Ross Stripling is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He made his MLB debut in 2016, and was an All-Star in 2018.

Amateur career

Stripling played in high school at Carroll High School in Southlake, Texas and then played college baseball at Texas A&M University. He threw a no-hitter for the Aggies against San Diego State on May 12, 2012. He finished his 2012 senior season with a 10-4 record and a 3.08 ERA in 16 starts.
Stripling was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign.

Professional career

The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Stripling in the fifth round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts in May 2013 and was selected to the mid-season Southern League All-Star Game. He finished the season 6–4 with a 2.78 ERA in 21 games.
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. He rejoined the AA Tulsa Drillers during mid-season in 2015 and finished 3–6 with a 3.88 ERA in 14 starts. The Dodgers added Stripling to their 40-man roster after the season.
Stripling made the Dodgers opening day roster for 2016 as the fifth starter. After several injuries to established pitchers, he beat out other Dodgers prospects to make the roster.
In his major league debut, against the San Francisco Giants on April 8, 2016, Stripling pitched 7 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 off of the relief pitcher. He picked up his first major league win against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 13, 2016. He appeared in 22 games and made 14 starts for the Dodgers with a 5–9 record and 3.96 ERA. He also appeared in relief in five post-season games for the Dodgers, allowing five runs in 2 innings.
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. He appeared in 49 games for the Dodgers that season, including two starts, and was 3–5 with a 4.15 ERA. He pitched three scoreless innings over five games in the post-season, including appearing in three games of the 2017 World Series.
Coming into the 2018 season and without a clear pathway to becoming a starting pitcher again he 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. He wound up pitching in 33 games for the Dodgers in 2018, including 21 starts, and was 8–6 with a 3.02 ERA.
In 2019, he again alternated between starting and relieving. He appeared in 32 games, 15 of them starts, and was 4–4 with a 3.47 ERA and 93 strikeouts. Stripling agreed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $2.1 million, contract for 2020, avoiding arbitration.

Personal life

Stripling married his longtime girlfriend, Shelby Gassiott, on November 11, 2017.
Stripling earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Texas A&M, and is a FINRA-licensed stockbroker and investment advisor. He passed the Series 7 exam in 2016 and Series 66 exam in 2017. On January 31, 2019 Ross appeared on Fox Business Network and contributed commentary regarding the markets before fielding questions regarding his major league debut and baseball analytics. He trades stocks regularly, even during the baseball season.