A day after news broke that Angels were on the verge of acquiring another hitter for their stacked lineup, they are apparently also going to pick up a pitcher to bolster their rotation.
Former All-Star Ross Stripling will come to the Angels, along with outfielder Joc Pederson, in exchange for infielder Luís Rengifo, according to multiple reports. There are expected to be other prospects on both sides of the deal, reportedly including Dodgers outfielder prospect Andy Pages.
As of Wednesday night, neither team had confirmed any details of the trade, just as the Dodgers’ three-team deal with Boston and Minnesota that would bring All-Star outfielder Mookie Betts and pitcher David Price to the Dodgers has yet to become official.
According to a report by the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Dodgers-Red Sox-Twins trade was being held up by a question over the medical report on Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol. The report indicated the deal is still likely to get done, although perhaps with some tweaking of the original players.
No matter the final composition of the deal, as long as it involves the Dodgers getting Betts and Price, presumably they’ll still be willing to send Pederson and Stripling to the Angels.
Once the deal is done, Stripling would join an Angels rotation depth chart that includes Shohei Ohtani, Andrew Heaney, Julio Teheran, Dylan Bundy and Griffin Canning. They also have Patrick Sandoval, José Suarez, Jaime Barría, Dillon Peters and Félix Peña, all of whom made starts for them in 2018. The Angels are also bringing Matt Andriese to camp as a starter, although he’s pitched in relief the past two seasons and could be shifted back to the bullpen.
Many of those pitchers, including Stripling, have had recent injury issues, which is no doubt why the Angels are trying to build the most depth they can. Ohtani, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, will be on an innings limit and might not even open the season in the rotation.
If the Angels are to get Stripling, they will add a pitcher who has been solid throughout parts of four big-league seasons.
Stripling, 30, posted a 3.02 ERA over 122 innings in 2018, when he made the All-Star team.
Since then, he has become a swingman, shuttling between the Dodgers rotation and bullpen. In parts of four big-league seasons, he’s posted a 3.51 ERA over 387 innings, with 52 starts and 84 relief appearances.
In 212 innings over the past two seasons, Stripling has struck out 9.7 batters per nine innings. He’s also been better than average at inducing ground balls, something the Angels value.
Stripling has been on the injured list three times in the past two seasons, with right toe inflammation and lower back inflammation in 2018 and right biceps tendinitis last year. Stripling was out for about five weeks with the biceps issue last year.
He returned to pitch 14 innings in September, striking out 17 and walking one in that span. He allowed four earned runs. He pitched just one inning in the Dodgers’ five-game division series loss to the Washington Nationals.
Stripling is under control for three more seasons before free agency. He’ll make $2.1 million through an arbitration settlement in 2020.