SF Giants sign RHP Ross Stripling to two-year, $25 million deal
The SF Giants added a second starting pitcher in as many days by signing Toronto Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling to a two-year, $25 million deal. And you know it's got to include an opt-out after one year because that's how the Giants do business.
The SF Giants signed former Blue Jays starter Ross Stripling. (2022)
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The 33-year-old right-hander had a strong bounce-back year for the Blue Jays in 2022, throwing 134.1 innings in 24 starts and eight relief appearances while racking up 111 strikeouts. He recorded 3.01 ERA (3.11 FIP).
Stripling is an interesting success story because he neither throws hard or particularly spins the ball. How he gets by is with extremely low walk rates (1.3 per nine innings) and low home run rates (0.8 per nine, 1.3 per nine for his career). Stripling's fastball averages 91.8 MPH, but he has excellent command of all five of his pitches: a four-seamer, slider, changeup, curveball, and sinker.
Stripling was an All-Star selection in 2018 while he was a member of the Dodgers, a year where he joined the starting rotation in mid-May and entered the break with a 7-2 record and a 2.22 ERA. LA traded him to Toronto at the deadline in 2020, to clear room in the rotation for Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May. Stripling struggled in 2021 with the Jays, mainly because his home run rate was high, which could have been due to the suspiciously home run-friendly baseball that season.
Home runs shouldn't be a problem at Oracle Park, but a pitcher who lets hitters put the ball in play may have trouble if the Giants don't find some defensive upgrades. Stripling's success may be directly tied to who ends up manning center field and the left side of the infield in 2023.
Stripling's deal appears to have identical terms to the Sean Manaea signing - two years, $25 million, with an opt-out on the second year. It's also a smaller-money version of Carlos Rodon's two-year $44 million deal that also had a player opt-out. (Rodon is seeking a little bit more than that now.)
It's a trend for the Giants under Farhan, and perhaps a reaction to the organization feeling burned by the long-term deals given to Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija. The rotation is now full of free agent starters on short-term deals: Alex Wood, Alex Cobb, Manaea, and Stripling are all on one-year deals for between $10 and $12.5 million, while Anthony DeSclafani has a whopping two years and $24 million left.
The Giants clearly feel confident in their ability to succeed with veteran starters, especially ones who want to rebuild their value for a year. The ballpark might help them attract these type of pitchers, as much as it might alienate homer-seeking position players. It's a risk-averse strategy, and as long as they can keep coming up with a Logan Webb every few years, it might work.
Plus, Stripling has a good history at Oracle Park. He almost threw a no-hitter in his first career start, which was weirdly his only start in SF - he started four times against the Giants in Dodger Stadium.
The Giants also likely value Stripling's comfort with coming out of the bullpen, as they now have six starters, along with swingman Jakob Junis (17 starts last year), minor league starter Sean Hjelle, and top prospect Kyle Harrison waiting in AAA. Still, Gabe Kapler will still find a way to start a reliever 25 times a year.
Getting Ross Stripling probably signals the end of the SF Giants starting pitching shopping, though they're still looking for an outfielder, at least one infielder, and a reliever.
