Blue Jays Spotlight: Ross Stripling

With their pitching depth questionable, the Toronto Blue Jays have enjoyed the bright spot that Ross Stripling has been

The Toronto Blue Jays have had a somewhat disappointing season thus far, partly due to their lack of pitching depth. The back end of the rotation has been riddled with injury (Hyun Jin Ryu) and poor performances (Yusei Kikuchi). You could even add the inconsistent Jose Berrios to the list of reasons pitching depth has been at a premium. And, with it at a premium, the Blue Jays found themselves going into the Trade Deadline needing to pick up where they left off in the offseason: looking for pitching help. The additions they made may have helped a bit, but the performance of Ross Stripling has softened the blow and may just end up being one of the big reasons Toronto makes the postseason.

At age 32, Stripling is having himself a season the likes of which he hasn’t had in a Blue Jays uniform. In 2018, he put up 2.2 fWAR and followed that with 1.9 fWAR in 2019. After struggling in 2020 in LA, he came to Toronto and didn’t necessarily find success right away. Sure, injury has been an issue early on in his Toronto tenure, but we haven’t seen this brand of Stripling yet.

Standard Pitching

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W
2016	26	LAD	5	9	3.96	22	14	100.0	96	44	10	30	74	3.90	1.260	8.6	0.9	2.7	6.7	2.47
2017	27	LAD	3	5	3.75	49	2	74.1	69	31	10	19	74	3.68	1.184	8.4	1.2	2.3	9.0	3.89
2018	28	LAD	8	6	3.02	33	21	122.0	123	41	18	22	136	3.41	1.189	9.1	1.3	1.6	10.0	6.18
2019	29	LAD	4	4	3.47	32	15	90.2	84	35	11	20	93	3.47	1.147	8.3	1.1	2.0	9.2	4.65
2020	30	TOT	3	3	5.84	12	9	49.1	56	32	13	18	40	6.15	1.500	10.2	2.4	3.3	7.3	2.22
2020	30	LAD	3	1	5.61	7	7	33.2	38	21	12	11	27	7.29	1.455	10.2	3.2	2.9	7.2	2.45
2020	30	TOR	0	2	6.32	5	2	15.2	18	11	1	7	13	3.70	1.596	10.3	0.6	4.0	7.5	1.86
2021	31	TOR	5	7	4.80	24	19	101.1	99	54	23	30	94	5.21	1.273	8.8	2.0	2.7	8.3	3.13
2022	32	TOR	5	3	2.93	24	16	89.0	77	29	6	15	74	2.87	1.034	7.8	0.6	1.5	7.5	4.93
7 Yr	7 Yr	7 Yr	33	37	3.82	196	96	626.2	604	266	91	154	585	3.96	1.210	8.7	1.3	2.2	8.4	3.80
162	162	162	8	9	3.82	46	22	146	141	62	21	36	136	3.96	1.210	8.7	1.3	2.2	8.4	3.80
LAD	LAD	LAD	23	25	3.68	143	59	420.2	410	172	61	102	404	3.90	1.217	8.8	1.3	2.2	8.6	3.96
TOR	TOR	TOR	10	12	4.11	53	37	206.0	194	94	30	52	181	4.08	1.194	8.5	1.3	2.3	7.9	3.48
NL (	NL (	NL (	23	25	3.68	143	59	420.2	410	172	61	102	404	3.90	1.217	8.8	1.3	2.2	8.6	3.96
AL (	AL (	AL (	10	12	4.11	53	37	206.0	194	94	30	52	181	4.08	1.194	8.5	1.3	2.3	7.9	3.48

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/18/2022.

Consider the following takeaways from the above table:

His H/9 mark of 7.8 is the lowest of his career, his HR/9 of 0.6 is tied for his career low, his BB/9 is a career low and his SO/W rate (4.93) is second only to his All Star year (2018: 6.18). Let’s also add that his ERA is a career low 2.93, his FIP of 2.87 is as well and nearly half what it was last season. His opponents’ batting average of .228 is also a career best. Also of note is the fact that he’s lowered his Barrel% by more than 2% this season (8.0%).

At 33 years old, Stripling will hit free agency in a couple months and all of the above will only help him pursue his next contract. With Toronto in need of quality pitching, you can bet that there will be some sort of discussion between the two sides. What those discussions look like is anyone’s guess at this point. At the time of writing, it sounds like there are a few avenues to consider.

Option 1: Toronto could want Stripling to say so badly they could offer him a Qualifying Offer. At Blue Jays Nation, Brennan Delaney has explored this option and it is one where he seems more in favour of than I. Extending a one year offer for over $18M seems a bit much. A guy like Stripling, at age 33, may be looking for more years, which could net him more total dollars. Sure, rejecting the offer could get the club an extra pick when he signs elsewhere. It says here that this option provides two risks: 1) paying $18M for a swing man and 2) losing a guy who has emerged as a solid rotation piece. Presumably, Stripling would need to be guaranteed he will be in the rotation.

Considering he has already put up 2.2 fWAR and Fangraphs values his 2022 showing at $17.4M, perhaps the QO isn’t that outrageous. However, chasing a compensatory pick seems silly when this club should have designs on building a World Series winner this winter.

Option 2: Toronto could offer Stripling an extension. They could try and sign him before the season ends or re-sign him in the days after the World Series. Winning one would certainly help their chances, but that’s being hopeful. At age 33, Stripling would have to be looking for as many years as possible. It’s tough to imagine him signing for one year. Toronto may want to consider a two year deal with some kind of option for a third. It could be a player option, team option based on innings pitched or a mutual one. Either way, signing Stripling would be rewarding him for being one of the few bright spots this season and securing his services for a championship run.

This option might be the best for both sides. Stripling has said he wants to win more so than having a defined role on the team and he would have intimate knowledge of how close this team really is since he has far more than win/loss records to help him decide. If he feels this team is as close as we felt they were before the season started, a reunion could be a real possibility. This is especially true since Stripling has been a fan of the managerial change Toronto has undergone recently. Apparently, the way manager John Schneider handles his players means a lot to Stripling. Maybe it is enough to get him to sign on the dotted line.