Stripling going back to windup delivery

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Rain moved most of Thursday’s workouts into the covered batting cage at Camelback Ranch, but it held off long enough for Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling to throw live batting practice.

For Stripling, it was the next step in his mission to resume pitching with a windup, which he abandoned after the 2017 spring and went all stretch all the time.

“Even though you did it for years in high school, college and coming up in pro ball, it’s not so much muscle memory that you can bring it right back,” said Stripling. “I think I tried it in a bullpen [session] last year when I was starting, because it looked like I’d be starting for a while and I thought we should get the windup going again. But it was too big of a thing to do midseason, so we scrapped it.

“I think the reason you bring it back, it gives you a little more rhythm and it gives hitters a different timing. Out of the stretch, it’s easy to time it. Winding up, there are more moving parts. They felt good. Seems fine. What I saw on the field was good. It’s very simple.”

Stripling, an All-Star last year after becoming a fill-in starter, said he will continue working on the windup unless he’s told he’s breaking camp as a reliever.

Other news

• The Dodgers will honor the legacy of the late Don Newcombe with a commemorative uniform number “36” patch this season, president Stan Kasten announced on Thursday.

Newcombe, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 92, along with Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella helped pave the way for African-Americans to play in the Major Leagues. He played eight years of his 10-year Major League career with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers will also honor Newcombe in pregame ceremonies on April 27, when they induct him into the Legends of Dodger Baseball and salute him with a commemorative bobblehead.

The club previously honored former players Jim Gilliam (1978), Tim Crews (1993), Don Drysdale (1993), Roy Campanella (1993), Pee Wee Reese (1999) and Duke Snider (2011) and coach Don McMahon (1987) with commemorative patches after their deaths.

Newcombe reached the pinnacle of his career in 1956, when he won both the Cy Young and NL Most Valuable Player awards as a Dodger. Newcombe went 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA, leading the NL in lowest WHIP with 0.99. He was named the Rookie of the Year in 1949.

• The Dodgers will use a cluster of pitchers in Saturday’s Spring Training opener against the White Sox and Hyun Jin Ryu will start Sunday’s game against the Angels, manager Dave Roberts said on Thursday.

Listed pitchers for Saturday are Daniel Corsino, Jamie Schultz, Kevin Quackenbush, Josh Sborz, Stetson Allie, Josh Smoker and Joe Broussard.

Pitchers listed for Sunday’s game are Ryu, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, Adam McCreery, Tony Gonsolin, Mitchell White and Dustin May.

• Third baseman Justin Turner and shortstop Corey Seager resumed workouts after getting scheduled days off on Wednesday, Turner to recover from an annual knee lubricant injection.

• Roberts said Caleb Ferguson will be built up as a starter early in camp, with a decision next month if he is moved back to the bullpen, where he excelled last season.

Josh Fields and Tony Cingrani are fully healthy after injuries last year. Roberts said they will take their time with Cingrani this spring. He was injured last Spring and never really was healthy throughout the year after showing dominance in 2017.