Photo by Matt Sachs, TexAgs
Texas A&M Baseball
“Going through Tommy John surgery was tough. I was invited to major league camp. I was piggy-backing Clayton Kershaw. You were hearing rumors that Stripling may have a chance to make the team out of spring training. During the first outing of spring training, I basically tore my UCL and needed immediate Tommy John surgery. It was tough. It was really hard to watch my friends leave and watch the organization move on without me. They got two more draft classes while I was rehabbing. They got a couple more trades, a new front office and a couple of new coaches. You just kind of feel like you get pushed behind, and everyone kind of moves on without you.
When you get healthy it’s all about proving to these guys that you can pitch, that you’re healthy and that your arm is ready to go. That’s kind of what I was trying to do last season. I went to AA for half the season, and I was just trying to prove that I could pitch. I tried to get on everyone’s radar again. I think I was able to do that. I enjoyed the rest this offseason and I showed up to spring training ready to go. There were a couple of injuries, and I was able to turn some heads my way and I was able to battle for that fifth spot. It was pretty crazy.”
“Tommy John is just as difficult mentally as it is physically. We’re used to going to the field every day and throwing, running, doing a shoulder program and all that stuff – the physical side of baseball. The mental side is just tough. You watch your buddies leave. You watch them move up levels. You watch guys that you played against make the big leagues. That’s pretty tough. I think from that standpoint, that’s the hardest part of it: knowing you can compete at that level, but that your arm just isn’t healthy. I think that was the toughest part for me.
Another tough part is that you feel fine at about eight months. You really do, but it’s kind of a rollercoaster ride. You’re going to have good days and bad days, but your ligament just isn’t physically healthy for about a year. That’s just the science behind it. Your arm takes a year to heal. It took me another two months to build up to 75 pitches to where I could go make a start. It’s kind of frustrating thinking, ‘I could go pitch right now at an affiliate, but they’re just not letting me yet. I’ve got to wait the 14 months.’ That was tough. Once I finally got through that, I went and joined a team. Everything was back to normal, but it was frustrating, man.”
“Getting the call to go to the big leagues was crazy. You kept hearing two other names were in the mix for the fifth starter. Then I made a start against the Padres towards the end of spring training, and they started to say, ‘Stripling might be in the mix too.’ I get a call when they were playing the Freeway Series against the Angels in Los Angeles. It was early in the morning, like 6:30 in the morning. I got a call from our minor league coordinator and he said, ‘We need you in L.A. today.’ I thought that meant I was the fifth starter. I was immediately freaking out, and my heart started beating really hard. Then he said, ‘We haven’t made a decision yet. We don’t know who the fifth starter is, but we need you in L.A. just in case.’ I was like, ‘Alright, well I don’t know what that means, but okay.’
I’m headed out to L.A. I got dressed and got all my stuff because I was either staying in L.A. or going to Oklahoma City from L.A. So I get my stuff, and I show up and the first guy I see is our manager, Dave Roberts. He’s like, ‘Stripling, get in my office!’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ I’m trying to read his body language, but I can’t really tell what he’s thinking. He gets in there, and he’s like, ‘This is my first really exciting meeting as the Dodger’s manager. We’re naming you our fifth starter.’ I hugged our pitching coach and one of our front office guys and then, obviously, the manager. I don’t remember what we talked about. It just turned into hugs and congratulations. I was calling my mom and my fiancée. Then I had to get to work. It was cool. It’s something I’ll remember forever. That’s for sure.”
“San Francisco is an unbelievable place to play. That stadium is unbelievable and those fans are unbelievable baseball fans. They know what they’re doing. It’s a really fun place to play. As far as being locked in, I was nervous. It was raining, so I was kind of battling the elements coming in. That line-up is stout. It has a lot of guys that have been around for a long time. Obviously, you’re nervous. For me, it was really about coming out and attacking that first hitter. Being able to get that first strike, which I was able to do. Get that first guy out. Then I really settled down.
In college and my whole career – I don’t really settle in until the third or fourth inning. I was able to get through that first inning which has probably been my worst, historically. I got through it and sat in the dugout after that. I was like, ‘Alright, let’s settle in here and kind of get into a little rhythm.’ From there, I just kind of took it one inning at a time and probably really hit my stride around the third. I was making some good pitches and battling a couple of walks in there. Overall, I felt really good and got into a routine as the game went on.”
“I realized I had a no-hitter going after the fourth. I walked two in the fourth and got out of a little bit of a jam. I headed back in, and I was like, ‘Alright, cool. I went through the line-up one time and didn’t give up a hit. That’s pretty neat.’ I wouldn’t say I really started thinking about it until I got a no-out, 3-2 change-up double-play on Brandon Belt who went to Texas. I got the next guy to ground-out, too. I went back to the dugout after the seventh inning. Then you start noticing that no one’s coming up to you and all this stuff. It’s pretty funny, man.”
“I noticed my pitch count about that same time. I looked, and my pitch count was posted up on the third deck. I was at 91 pitches. I thought, ‘Okay, I know that they’re not going to let me go 110 or 120, no matter what.’ Dave, our manager, came up to me. I thought he was going to tell me right then that I was done. He said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘I feel good.’ Obviously, you’re not going to say, ‘Take me out.’ He was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to let you keep going.’ I was like, ‘Alright, sounds good!’ Basically, you got the feeling that you knew the second anyone got on, I was going to get taken out. Obviously, that’s what happened, and it was a bummer. But it was the right choice in my mind. I think I was fatiguing a little bit, and in the first start, you really can’t creep up in pitches like that. It sucks that that’s how it went, but it’s alright.”
“My dad is a nervous man in general before I pitch. That’s just how it is for him. I think if you look at my mom and Shelby, my fiancée, they’re probably thinking more about the no-hitter, but my dad is more of a baseball mind. He’s thinking, ‘Man, my son hasn’t thrown 100 pitches since his college days and certainly not since surgery.’ I don’t think I got up over 80 last year. They’d been really cautious with me, and this was the first start of the year. Obviously, I’m giving it everything I have. It’s my major league debut. It’s not like I’m pacing myself. I’m out there giving it everything from the start, so my arm is just done. My dad is probably thinking about that kind of stuff. That’s obviously what he was worried about. As far as what he talked about with Dave Roberts the next morning, I think that just kind of sounds like my dad. That’s just the man that he is. He likes to go up and tell a man that he appreciates what he did for me and that he made the right choice. He wanted him to feel good about the choice that he made. That was really nice of him. I think the media took a hold of that and ran with it.”
“I remember watching Michael Wacha’s near-no-hitter. That was much more of a heartbreaker than mine. I haven’t talked to him on the phone but he texted me. Like I said, my phone has just been going crazy. I think he might pitch today, so he’s got his own stuff going on. I’ll catch up with him soon. He texted me both before and after and just gave me some small advice before, saying, ‘This is still baseball, buddy. Hang in there. You’re going to be fine.’ Afterwards it was nothing but congratulations, but I’ll catch up with him soon for sure.”
“I have been keeping up with Aggie baseball. Early, I kept up with them really well, and then all this went down around the Florida series, which didn’t go well. I wasn’t able to really keep up with it that well that weekend, so maybe I have to start following better so they keep doing well. They’ve been a lot of fun to watch. I know they’ve been struggling with pitching a little bit, but this is a team that can really hit – since even before my day. It’s like the Justin Ruggiano and Luke Anders days. They’ve been fun to watch, man.”
Ross Stripling details near no-hitter, battling back from Tommy John
Key quotes from Ross Stripling interview:
“My MLB debut kind of has sunk in, and it kind of hasn’t. My phone has finally settled down as far as social media and people reaching out through texts and phone calls. It has to sink in because – we have the day off, but the Diamondbacks coming into town, so you have to prepare for them. For me, it was pretty crazy. To just kind of sit back and think about what all went down on Friday night was pretty incredible.”“Going through Tommy John surgery was tough. I was invited to major league camp. I was piggy-backing Clayton Kershaw. You were hearing rumors that Stripling may have a chance to make the team out of spring training. During the first outing of spring training, I basically tore my UCL and needed immediate Tommy John surgery. It was tough. It was really hard to watch my friends leave and watch the organization move on without me. They got two more draft classes while I was rehabbing. They got a couple more trades, a new front office and a couple of new coaches. You just kind of feel like you get pushed behind, and everyone kind of moves on without you.
When you get healthy it’s all about proving to these guys that you can pitch, that you’re healthy and that your arm is ready to go. That’s kind of what I was trying to do last season. I went to AA for half the season, and I was just trying to prove that I could pitch. I tried to get on everyone’s radar again. I think I was able to do that. I enjoyed the rest this offseason and I showed up to spring training ready to go. There were a couple of injuries, and I was able to turn some heads my way and I was able to battle for that fifth spot. It was pretty crazy.”
“Tommy John is just as difficult mentally as it is physically. We’re used to going to the field every day and throwing, running, doing a shoulder program and all that stuff – the physical side of baseball. The mental side is just tough. You watch your buddies leave. You watch them move up levels. You watch guys that you played against make the big leagues. That’s pretty tough. I think from that standpoint, that’s the hardest part of it: knowing you can compete at that level, but that your arm just isn’t healthy. I think that was the toughest part for me.
Another tough part is that you feel fine at about eight months. You really do, but it’s kind of a rollercoaster ride. You’re going to have good days and bad days, but your ligament just isn’t physically healthy for about a year. That’s just the science behind it. Your arm takes a year to heal. It took me another two months to build up to 75 pitches to where I could go make a start. It’s kind of frustrating thinking, ‘I could go pitch right now at an affiliate, but they’re just not letting me yet. I’ve got to wait the 14 months.’ That was tough. Once I finally got through that, I went and joined a team. Everything was back to normal, but it was frustrating, man.”
“Getting the call to go to the big leagues was crazy. You kept hearing two other names were in the mix for the fifth starter. Then I made a start against the Padres towards the end of spring training, and they started to say, ‘Stripling might be in the mix too.’ I get a call when they were playing the Freeway Series against the Angels in Los Angeles. It was early in the morning, like 6:30 in the morning. I got a call from our minor league coordinator and he said, ‘We need you in L.A. today.’ I thought that meant I was the fifth starter. I was immediately freaking out, and my heart started beating really hard. Then he said, ‘We haven’t made a decision yet. We don’t know who the fifth starter is, but we need you in L.A. just in case.’ I was like, ‘Alright, well I don’t know what that means, but okay.’
I’m headed out to L.A. I got dressed and got all my stuff because I was either staying in L.A. or going to Oklahoma City from L.A. So I get my stuff, and I show up and the first guy I see is our manager, Dave Roberts. He’s like, ‘Stripling, get in my office!’ I was like, ‘Alright.’ I’m trying to read his body language, but I can’t really tell what he’s thinking. He gets in there, and he’s like, ‘This is my first really exciting meeting as the Dodger’s manager. We’re naming you our fifth starter.’ I hugged our pitching coach and one of our front office guys and then, obviously, the manager. I don’t remember what we talked about. It just turned into hugs and congratulations. I was calling my mom and my fiancée. Then I had to get to work. It was cool. It’s something I’ll remember forever. That’s for sure.”
“San Francisco is an unbelievable place to play. That stadium is unbelievable and those fans are unbelievable baseball fans. They know what they’re doing. It’s a really fun place to play. As far as being locked in, I was nervous. It was raining, so I was kind of battling the elements coming in. That line-up is stout. It has a lot of guys that have been around for a long time. Obviously, you’re nervous. For me, it was really about coming out and attacking that first hitter. Being able to get that first strike, which I was able to do. Get that first guy out. Then I really settled down.
In college and my whole career – I don’t really settle in until the third or fourth inning. I was able to get through that first inning which has probably been my worst, historically. I got through it and sat in the dugout after that. I was like, ‘Alright, let’s settle in here and kind of get into a little rhythm.’ From there, I just kind of took it one inning at a time and probably really hit my stride around the third. I was making some good pitches and battling a couple of walks in there. Overall, I felt really good and got into a routine as the game went on.”
“I realized I had a no-hitter going after the fourth. I walked two in the fourth and got out of a little bit of a jam. I headed back in, and I was like, ‘Alright, cool. I went through the line-up one time and didn’t give up a hit. That’s pretty neat.’ I wouldn’t say I really started thinking about it until I got a no-out, 3-2 change-up double-play on Brandon Belt who went to Texas. I got the next guy to ground-out, too. I went back to the dugout after the seventh inning. Then you start noticing that no one’s coming up to you and all this stuff. It’s pretty funny, man.”
“I noticed my pitch count about that same time. I looked, and my pitch count was posted up on the third deck. I was at 91 pitches. I thought, ‘Okay, I know that they’re not going to let me go 110 or 120, no matter what.’ Dave, our manager, came up to me. I thought he was going to tell me right then that I was done. He said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘I feel good.’ Obviously, you’re not going to say, ‘Take me out.’ He was like, ‘Alright, we’re going to let you keep going.’ I was like, ‘Alright, sounds good!’ Basically, you got the feeling that you knew the second anyone got on, I was going to get taken out. Obviously, that’s what happened, and it was a bummer. But it was the right choice in my mind. I think I was fatiguing a little bit, and in the first start, you really can’t creep up in pitches like that. It sucks that that’s how it went, but it’s alright.”
“My dad is a nervous man in general before I pitch. That’s just how it is for him. I think if you look at my mom and Shelby, my fiancée, they’re probably thinking more about the no-hitter, but my dad is more of a baseball mind. He’s thinking, ‘Man, my son hasn’t thrown 100 pitches since his college days and certainly not since surgery.’ I don’t think I got up over 80 last year. They’d been really cautious with me, and this was the first start of the year. Obviously, I’m giving it everything I have. It’s my major league debut. It’s not like I’m pacing myself. I’m out there giving it everything from the start, so my arm is just done. My dad is probably thinking about that kind of stuff. That’s obviously what he was worried about. As far as what he talked about with Dave Roberts the next morning, I think that just kind of sounds like my dad. That’s just the man that he is. He likes to go up and tell a man that he appreciates what he did for me and that he made the right choice. He wanted him to feel good about the choice that he made. That was really nice of him. I think the media took a hold of that and ran with it.”
“I remember watching Michael Wacha’s near-no-hitter. That was much more of a heartbreaker than mine. I haven’t talked to him on the phone but he texted me. Like I said, my phone has just been going crazy. I think he might pitch today, so he’s got his own stuff going on. I’ll catch up with him soon. He texted me both before and after and just gave me some small advice before, saying, ‘This is still baseball, buddy. Hang in there. You’re going to be fine.’ Afterwards it was nothing but congratulations, but I’ll catch up with him soon for sure.”
“I have been keeping up with Aggie baseball. Early, I kept up with them really well, and then all this went down around the Florida series, which didn’t go well. I wasn’t able to really keep up with it that well that weekend, so maybe I have to start following better so they keep doing well. They’ve been a lot of fun to watch. I know they’ve been struggling with pitching a little bit, but this is a team that can really hit – since even before my day. It’s like the Justin Ruggiano and Luke Anders days. They’ve been fun to watch, man.”
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