With Hill injured, Wood likely to fill rotation spot
Ross Stripling rescued the Dodgers on Sunday, again. After he pitched 21⁄3 scoreless innings in relief of the injured Rich Hill, Stripling now has a 1.04 earned-run average. He has faced 34 batters, walked one and struck out 13.
Stripling started 14 games for the Dodgers last year, in his rookie season. But, with the Dodgers expected to put Hill on the disabled list, manager Dave Roberts said the team would most likely fill the rotation spot with Alex Wood.
Roberts also said Julio Urias is “not an option.” Urias, 20, the Dodgers’ left-handed prodigy, has made two starts at triple-A Oklahoma City. He did not complete five innings in either one, with the Dodgers slowly increasing his workload to manage his innings.
Wood, who started one game during Hill’s previous stint on the disabled list, has a 1.00 ERA. He has faced 38 batters, walked six and struck out eight.
Wood has 78 major league starts to his credit, and the Dodgers acquired him as a starter. But the Dodgers also are impressed with how well Stripling has taken to his long relief role and would rather not move him now.
“Ross has a nice niche right now,” Roberts said. “He’s got a nice rhythm.”
Slugger watch The Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are not engaged in trade talks involving outfielder Ryan Braun. But the Dodgers are happily keeping an eye on a bat of their own.
Cody Bellinger, their top prospect, is batting .395 through 10 games at Oklahoma City, with a 1.202 on-base-plus-slugging percentage. He stole two bases Saturday and hit a score-tying home run and game-winning single Sunday.
Bellinger is a first baseman, but the Dodgers played him at all three outfield spots this spring. He played center field for Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Parent watch Austin Barnes said his parents were in attendance Sunday, when he did not play. “They’re a day late,” he said. He hit his first major league home run Saturday. His parents were not in attendance.
Barnes, the Dodgers’ backup catcher, has started two of the Dodgers’ first seven home games. His parents might have driven in from Riverside on Saturday had their son alerted them he would be starting the game.
“I probably should have told them,” he said.
Attendance watch In 2016, the Dodgers sold fewer than 40,000 tickets for four of their 81 home dates.
This year, they sold fewer than 40,000 tickets for three of their first seven home dates.
The Dodgers have led the major leagues in attendance in each of the four full seasons under the ownership of Guggenheim Baseball Management and expect to do so again this season.