Royals sign former Dodgers All-Star to minor league contract

It's been a full week since pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, and now, the Kansas City Royals have a new hurler joining them at camp. On February 19, the Royals announced that they had signed right-hander Ross Stripling to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

Stripling is coming off a career-worst season with the Athletics, having accumulated a 2-11 win-loss record, 6.01 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and just 49 strikeouts in 85.1 innings of work across 22 games (14 starts). Now, the former All-Star will be looking to revive his career with the Royals — but he'll have to prove himself at spring training first.

KC Royals sign Ross Stripling to minor league deal

After originally being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2011 but turning down a contract to play his senior year of college baseball at Texas A&M, Stripling was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB Draft. He quickly impressed in the minors and was promoted to Double-A in May 2013, but a torn UCL forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery in 2014, sidelining him for a full season and slowing down his progress.

At the end of 2015, the Dodgers added Stripling to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule-5 Draft, and after the team's starting rotation was thinned with injuries, he was added to the Opening Day roster for the 2016 season. In his MLB debut on April 8, 2016, Stripling pitched 7.1 innings without allowing a single hit, and was only replaced by a reliever after reaching 100 pitches. The right-hander finished his rookie season with a 3.96 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 100.0 innings across 22 games (14 starts), and appeared in five playoff games out of the bullpen.

Stripling became a crucial part of the Dodgers' bullpen in 2017, only starting two games of his 49 appearances, but in 2018, he transitioned back to the rotation — and earned himself an All-Star selection. He appeared in 33 games (21 starts) in 2018, accumulating a 3.02 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 122.0 innings, with an incredible 4.4% walk rate to rank him in the top 4% of all qualified pitchers that season.

He continued to swing between the starting rotation and bullpen in 2019, and on August 31, 2020, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for pitcher Kendall Williams and another player to be named later, who turned out to be first baseman Ryan Noda. Across a total of 143 games for the Dodgers, Stripling ended his tenure with a 23-25 record, 3.68 ERA, and 404 strikeouts.

Stripling stayed with the Blue Jays for another two seasons after 2020, accumulating a 3.94 ERA in a total of 251.1 innings, and became a free agent after the 2022 season. He signed a two-year deal to join the San Francisco Giants before 2023, but after posting an abysmal 0-5 record and 5.36 ERA across 22 appearances (11 starts) in his first season with the team, he was traded to the Athletics on February 2, 2024.

Now coming off the worst season of his career, Stripling is looking for a fresh start in the Royals organization. After two back-to-back disappointing seasons, the 35-year-old's All-Star form from 2018 feels like a distant memory, but can he rediscover it enough to get a shot at the big leagues this year? Only time will tell.