Ross Stripling can flat out pitch. If you don’t believe this, just take a look at the Gameday recap of his major league debut against the San Francisco Giants last Friday night. Stripling no hit the Giants through his 7.1 innings of work, allowing only one earned run when his replacement, Dodgers right-hander Chris Hatcher, gave up a two-run home run to Giants rookie back-up catcher Trevor Brown. Unfortunately for Stripling, he had allowed a leadoff walk to begin the inning – hence the one earned run on no hits.

When you stop and think about what Ross Stripling went through to get to this moment, you begin to realize just how incredible he really is – not just as a pitcher, but as a person.
(Photo credit – Marcio Jose Sanchez)

But there’s a lot more to Ross Stripling – more than his God-given talent to throw a 93-MPH fastball and a 12-6 curveball that is unhittable. In addition to this and his tremendous courage and perseverance to fight his way back from Tommy John surgery, the 26-year-old Bluebell, Pennsylvania native has maintained a great attitude, even after being optioned to minor league spring training camp with only two weeks of major league camp remaining and in spite of the fact that he had been one of the most effective starting pitchers in major league camp.

“It was nice to get up there [in major league camp] for a little longer period,” Stripling said during an interview exactly one week after be optioned to minor league camp. “What you kind of take out of it is just how those guys go about their business. They all have their set ways that gets them ready to pitch or gets them ready to play every day. And when you get down here [in minor league camp] you see the young kids that are trying to figure that out and we’re trying to coach them through it and stuff like that.

“But up there, they just have such a set regiment. They know what to do to stay healthy, to get their arms ready to pitch every five days or every other day [for a] reliever,” Stripling added. “So that’s what I kind of take from it – get in, get your business done, get your work done and then get off your feet and get ready, because spring training and then 162 games, it’s a lot. But is was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed it.”

Having spent a full month in major league camp, Stripling was constantly under the watchful eyes of veteran pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, new bullpen coach Josh Bard and even Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. Did he make any mechanical changes or pick up any new pitches during that time?

“I wouldn’t say mechanically, they really didn’t touch me mechanically, but I would say with Maddux there, it was a lot more pitch selection,” Stripling said. “I threw a live BP with him right at my back hip – they had a net behind me and he was standing right there – and he would say ‘Did you see what that batter did right there?’ and I was like ‘No, not really,’  and he was like ‘He kind of stepped open a little bit. Throw it outside corner right here.’ You’d throw it outside corner and they wouldn’t hit it. So it’s pretty incredible to see him to be able to see baseball like that when I’m just up there trying to survive.

“You can kind of read a swing and stuff, but when you let go of the ball, it’s kind of hard to watch the ball and watch [the batter] and all this stuff, and he is just like picking up all these nuances,” added Stripling. “It’s pretty incredible. So that’s one thing I want to get a lot better at because he showed me kind of what it can be. I’m definitely not there yet.”

Obviously, one of the Dodgers biggest concerns with Stripling is his health, being only 25 months removed from Tommy John surgery. But the hard-throwing right-hand insists that he is completely healed.

“It was a grind but I’m feeling great. Normal spring training I wasn’t rebounding great at first. I certainly didn’t have any issues but I was having some soreness, and now I think I’m getting stronger as we’re going, so I should be good.”

Although Stripling had to change gears a bit moving from big league camp to minor league camp, he knew that he couldn’t let up – not even slightly – and, in fact, treated his reassignment with the same intensity that he did with the major league team.

“You just gotta go about your business. You gotta keep getting your work in and you just gotta think that when an opportunity comes up, my name is in that hat to get it,” said Stripling. “If we start the season and my first two [minor league] outings are tough, I just maybe gave up all the work that I put in this spring opening some eyes.

“I think I did everything I could over there. I think I proved that I was healthy and that I can pitch, and when an opportunity comes up I hope that I’m in the mix as much as anyone else,” Stripling added. “And if that day comes, we’ll just go up there and rock and see what happens.”

It would have been both easy and understandable for Stripling to be disappointed or even angry about being sent back down to the minors, but anyone who has known Ross Stripling for even 30 seconds knows that this is just not who he is. Instead of being down about his reassignment, Stripling embraced it and immediately went to work sharing what he had learned in big league camp with fellow minor leaguers who had enough sense to ask him about his major league experience.

“I just kind of told them what I told you. ‘It’s about staying healthy and getting your work done and then getting out of there,'” Stripling said. “‘When you’re working it’s 100 percent – everything you’ve got – but when it’s done and you’re gone, you save it for the next day.’

“I just told them ‘You can’t win a big league spot in one outing, you really can’t. You gotta stay healthy, go through the grind, be consistent and get better,'” he added. “For these young kids it’s ‘Every bullpen work on something, every outing work on something, get a little better. And then after that, when you get an opportunity, take full advantage of it.'”

On April 1, 2016, Stripling’s opportunity came when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts announced the Ross had been officially named as the Dodgers fifth starter and that he would make his major league debut against the Giants in San Francisco on April 8.

“It’s already every bit as exciting as I could have dreamed it would be, and it’s only going to get better,” said Stripling after receiving word of his well-deserved promotion. “I’m excited to see what’s going to come. First outing at San Francisco, throw you right in the fire, that will be fun. That’s one of the biggest rivalries in baseball.”

And we all know what happened in Stripling’s first outing.

“I’m really proud of him, excited for the future and for what he can be as a major league pitcher and excited to catch him going forward,” said Dodgers veteran catcher A.J. Ellis after Stripling’s historic MLB debut.

Although there are some who were critical of Roberts pulling Stripling after 7.1 innings when he had a no-hitter going, Ross will be the first to tell you that it was the right decision.

“I thought it was the right choice,” said Stripling. “I was tired; it was the right call. I think you could tell I was trending downwards. It was a tough decision for him. I certainly had no ill feelings toward him one bit.”

Did I mention that Ross Stripling has a great attitude?

It was very obvious that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts struggled with his decision to remove Stripling after 7.1 no-hit innings, but even Stripling said it was the right call. (Getty Images)

With Monday’s scheduled off day, Stripling is slated to make his Dodger Stadium debut on Thursday night, April 14 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. How does he feel about pitching in front of a friendly home crowd instead of the hostile environment at AT&T Park?

“I’m excited to get back to LA to pitch in front of our fans,” Stripling said. “I have never pitched in Dodger Stadium, so that will be something I’ll remember forever. Starting off my career against two division rivals, I couldn’t have asked for more excitement.”