Every Team's Most Interesting Player: Los Angeles Dodgers, Ross Stripling

This is the 14th in a series of articles about the most interesting player for fantasy owners on each team heading into the 2020 season. We are going alphabetically, so today we’re going to talk about Ross Stripling of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

As of this writing, Stripling is projected as a middle/long reliever for the Dodgers. That is atypical for “interesting” fantasy options. But Stripling is no mere reliever. He is proven to be a more than capable starting option, and could become a high-end one if 2020 breaks the right way. First thing’s first, Stripling could pitch his way into the rotation. Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler are locked in, but Julio Urias is unproven, Alex Wood pitched 35.2 innings last season, and Kenta Maeda has spent time in the ‘pen as well. Factor in inevitable injuries as the season progresses, and we will see Stripling start for stretches of the season.

Still, his innings are a concern. Stripling has never thrown more than 122 innings in a season; conversely, he’s never posted an ERA higher than 3.96 in four MLB seasons. Last season Stripling appeared in 32 games, and started 15. He posted a 3.47 ERA (identical to his FIP) with a sparkling 1.15 WHIP. He was even better in 2018 over 122 innings (22 starts), finishing with a 3.02 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 10.03 K/9 rate. Even more impressively, Stripling has walked fewer than two batters per nine in back-to-back seasons. Unlike low-walk options such as Miles Mikolas or Kyle Hendricks, both of whom have ADPs much higher than Stripling’s No. 287 overall, Stripling actually strikes people out.

There are a few reasons why Stripling’s results are so good. He induced a ground ball 50% of the time when opposing hitters made contact, and they hit fly balls just 30.7% of the time. He’s able to do this by not relying on his pedestrian 90.7-mph fastball. Stripling throws a cutter, slider, changeup and a sinker in addition to the four-seamer, all of which are about league average save the cutter, which was better than eight runs above average.

Realistically, Stripling may prove worth owning even if he only makes around 15 starts. He will be able to assist fantasy owners with wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts regardless of his role. He may, however, be capped in terms of upside because of the aforementioned Urias, Wood, and Maeda, as well as Jimmy Nelson who was acquired this offseason. His deep ADP makes him worth a late gamble, as he could be a low-end SP2 with enough innings in 2020.