Ross Stripling Reportedly Named Dodgers’ Fifth Starter.

The Dodgers have seemingly made the decision to open the season with Ross Stripling as their fifth starter.

When the Dodgers opened camp, it appeared they would have to figure out a way to whittle seven legitimate starting pitching candidates down to five.

Spring happened, and now they had a decision to make in the fifth spot of the rotation. Clayton Kershaw, Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda and Alex Wood were the four survivors of spring, but injuries to Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger, combined with a cautious approach to Hyun-jin Ryu‘s shoulder rehab left the Dodgers with three candidates for the fifth spot in the rotation. Julio Urias and Jose De Leon were rightfully not considered, but a pair of former top prospects (and Carlos Frias) seemed to be the battle for the fifth spot.

Zach Lee was in the mix but was taken out of the conversation when the team left Arizona and returned to LA for three final exhibition games. It came down to Ross Stripling and Frias, and Stripling won the job.

Stripling has had success in the minors, with a career 2.83 ERA over the span of five seasons. The former fifth round pick threw his most full season in 2013, where he had a 2.82 ERA in 127 innings between Chattanooga and Rancho Cucamonga. Stripling was a non-roster invitee for the Dodgers in spring training in 2014, where he suffered an arm injury and underwent Tommy John. He returned last season to the minors and finished up with AA-Tulsa, where he posted a 3.88 ERA in 13 starts post-surgery. He was added to the 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from the rule-five draft.

Stripling hadn’t allowed a run in his first eight innings of work during the spring, but gave up a run in the third and four runs in the fifth in his start against the Padres on March 29th. He gave up three home runs in that outing, two to Jon Jay and one to Wil Myers.

Fans should be familiar with Frias, who has appeared in 32 games for the Dodgers over the last couple years. He’s started fifteen games in the past and owns a 4.96 ERA in his starts. His stuff plays up coming out of the pen, but he will reportedly start for the OKC Dodgers.

Stripling’s first start of the season will be Friday, April 8th in San Francisco. He will be on an innings limit this season, but if recovery goes well Ryu should be set to come back in May.

Next: Predicting the 25-Man Roster

In other news, the Dodgers are deciding between Louis Coleman and Luis Avilan for the final bullpen spot. Results point to Coleman as the clear favorite as Avilan has struggled hard this spring, but the Dodgers might prioritize a second lefty over the right handed throwing Coleman.