Ryu's return prompts Stripling, Maeda to 'pen

DENVER -- Hyun Jin Ryu will come off the disabled list to start on Wednesday against the Giants, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday.
Ryu, who was on the 60-day disabled list with a left groin strain, made two rehab starts at Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Oklahoma City on Aug. 2 and Aug. 7, respectively. He pitched a total of nine innings and allowed just one run on seven hits.
Before his injury on May 3, the left-hander had a 2.12 ERA in six starts with the Dodgers early in the season. The Dodgers are starting to solidify their rotation by bringing Ryu and Alex Wood, who will start on Tuesday, off the disabled list as the National League West race heats up.
But narrowing the rotation to five pitchers -- Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Walker Buehler, Wood and Ryu -- means moving two starters to the bullpen.
Roberts said that those pitchers will be right-handers Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling, who will shift from the starting rotation to the bullpen in attempts to bring stability there in closer Kenley Jansen's absence (irregular heartbeat).

Maeda will be available to pitch Wednesday after he started Friday night's 5-4 loss to the Rockies. Roberts sees Maeda coming into games in high-leverage situations and pitching one inning to three innings.
"He has a lot of pride and confidence, which we would expect," Roberts said. "But the sell was that we have a lot of good players, and we have to assess what is going to help us win baseball games. Right now, that's where we're at. He was completely open to it, and he gave me his thoughts, which were he sees himself as a starter, which I appreciate, but right now, this is the direction we're going."
Stripling will be available on Tuesday after making his start against the Rockies on Thursday night in the Dodgers' 8-5 win. Roberts said he doesn't know when the two might come back to rotation.

"Ross has that argument to continue to stay in the rotation," Roberts said. "But his value in the 'pen and getting Woody back off the DL as the starter, getting Ryu back as a starter, it takes some unselfishness, and Kenta and Ross have shown that for us."