Royals Veteran, Ex-All-Star Projected To Be In Danger Of Missing Opening Day Roster
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The Kansas City Royals' pitching staff is in an interesting position. The team feels great about the top of its rotation and back end of its bullpen, but the rest is something of a mystery.
As the fifth spot in the rotation and several middle-relief spots are up for grabs, the Royals made an intriguing pickup of a former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star at the end of last week.
Ross Stripling, who joined the Royals on a minor-league deal, could be an interesting candidate for a swingman role if things break right. But the 35-year-old hasn't been a productive major leaguer since 2022, and on Thursday, his Royals debut was something of a disaster.
In just an inning of work against the Milwaukee Brewers, Stripling surrendered five earned runs on five hits, including two home runs. It was about as bad an outing as one could have in their first outing in a new uniform.
On Friday, FanSided's Jacob Milham projected Stripling as one of three Royals in danger of missing the Opening Day roster due to poor starts this spring, while insinuating this could be the veteran's last shot at big-league playing time.
"While (Stripling is) a former All-Star with the Los Angeles Dodgers, those days feel far removed," Milham wrote. "The hope was that he could provide pitching depth, but after Thursday’s outing, that value is in question."
"This is only one outing, but it was his first impression for Royals fans — and it wasn’t good. If he can’t find success in a pitch-to-contact role, his time in professional baseball might be running out altogether."
Stripling had a 3.01 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 over a solid 134 1/3-inning workload. But everything went downhill from there, as he posted a 5.36 mark with the San Francisco Giants in 2022 and a 6.01 with the Athletics a season ago.
Spring training box scores aren't important for everyone, but they're crucial for those competing for the last couple roster spots. And Stripling has already seemingly put himself behind the eight-ball, if he ever had a strong chance to begin with.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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