Dodgers’ Ross Stripling is ready for the next step
The reservation on Ross Stripling’s hotel near Camelback Ranch expires on June 25. At that point, Stripling hopes, the Dodgers will allow him to leave innings-restriction purgatory and rebuild strength in hopes of contributing in the majors during the second half of the season.
“It’s a frustrating month, because I basically just throw one inning every five days and hang out,” Stripling said. “But it’s almost over.”
Stripling visited the team at Chase Field before Wednesday’s series finale against Arizona. He threw a bullpen session for pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and updated the team on his progress. He threw a two-inning outing at Camelback Ranch on Monday and will throw a three-inning stint on Saturday after resting his arm for several weeks.
When Stripling leaves Arizona, he expects to join a minor league team so he can face more advanced hitters. He indicated his innings limit for 2016 resides between 125 and 130. He underwent elbow ligament-replacement surgery in 2014, but made the opening-day rotation due to the team’s cavalcade of injuries. He threw 45 2/3 innings in nine appearances. The Dodgers optioned him to triple-A Oklahoma City on May 23 with the intention of saving his innings for later in the season.
After a three-inning outing for Oklahoma City, Stripling was placed on the minor league disabled list due to “lower body fatigue.” Stripling chuckled when asked about the fatigue in his legs. In fact, part of the goal of this interlude is to improve his stamina.
In his first time through the batting order, Stripling limited hitters to a .197 batting average. By his third turn through, that number jumped to .333, with a 1.022 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
“We’re using this month, when my arm’s not under stress, to get totally in shape and get my legs going and all that,” Stripling said.
Kenta Maeda bounces back
A day after getting cracked in the right knee by a line drive, Kenta Maeda was no longer limping in the Dodgers clubhouse. Manager Dave Roberts sounded confident Maeda will be able to start on Sunday against Milwaukee.
Twitter: @McCulloughTimes
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