Ex-Dodgers All-Star With 4.17 Career ERA Joins Royals On Low-Risk Contract
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As the Kansas City Royals prepare for the 2025 season, there continue to be new faces added to the mix.
Every Major League Baseball team is still on the search for more talent at this point in the offseason, though they know they won't be able to carry everyone on the active roster. Camp battles bring out the best in certain players, and that can help improve the roster as a whole.
Though the Royals have a fairly deep projected pitching staff, there's no harm in adding more arms to the mix in February. Especially when they had a low-risk chance to bring in a former All-Star.
The Royals have signed a minor league deal with 10-year veteran and former Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star Ross Stripling. The Royals announced the news of the signing with a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday evening.
Stripling, 35, spent last season with the Oakland Athletics, and it went so poorly that no team was willing to take a chance on signing him to a guaranteed deal this year. He posted a 6.01 ERA and -1.1 rWAR in 85 1/3 innings pitched, also spending significant time on the injured list.
There have been some notable bright spots in Stripling's career, however. He had a 3.68 ERA in five seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including an All-Star appearance in 2018. And in 2022, he had a 3.01 ERA and 3.11 FIP in 134 1/3 innings with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Royals will evaluate how Stripling looks in camp and decide whether or not they think he can conjure some of that past magic after back-to-back bad seasons. It doesn't hurt to carry a middle-relief arm with starting experience, especially with the frequency of pitching injuries these days.
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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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