Former Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling says there is “no one more deserving” of the Roberto Clemente Award than Justin Turner.
Former Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling spent parts of five seasons in Los Angeles, and for every day of his L.A. career, Justin Turner was his teammate. Stripling saw up-close and personal what an impact Turner and his wife, Kourtney, made on Dodger fans and the Los Angeles community.
So when JT was announced earlier this week as the winner of the 2022 Roberto Clemente Award for his and Kourtney’s work through the Justin Turner Foundation, Stripling was pleased by not surprised.
Turner’s win makes three of Stripling’s former teammates to have won the award. His longtime Dodgers teammate Clayton Kershaw won it in 2014, and Curtis Granderson, who played with Stripling in L.A. for two months in 2017, won the award with the Mets in 2016.
Stripling debuted for the Dodgers in 2016, famously throwing 7.1 no-hit innings against the Giants in his big-league debut. He was an All-Star for Los Angeles in 2018 when he was 7-2 with a 2.22 ERA at the All-Star break.
At the trade deadline in 2020, L.A. traded Stripling to the Blue Jays for pitcher Kendall Williams and outfielder Ryan Noda. He had the best season of his career in 2022, going 10-4 with a 3.01 ERA in a career-high 134.1 innings pitched.
This year was Turner’s fifth time as L.A.’s nominee for the Clemente Award but his first time winning it. His future with the franchise is currently up in the air, as the Dodgers hold a $16 million team option but haven’t yet decided whether to exercise it.
