How an All-Star Dodgers pitcher went from baseball to business

When Ross Stripling was first drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers, he knew immediately what he wanted to do with his signing bonus: invest it in the stock market.

It was his first foray into the business world – he’d wanted to meet with his dad’s financial planner for help, but his dad suggested instead he learn how to do it himself instead – and certainly not his last.

“I ended up investing my own signing bonus myself, and just kind of fell in love with the markets,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Thursday.

As Stripling made his way through the minor leagues, he had to undergo elbow surgery (commonly known as Tommy John surgery). Although he ended up only missing 14 months of his career, Stripling wasn’t sure at the time whether he’d be able to return successfully to the Dodgers.

A finance major at Texas A&M University, Stripling decided to pursue a stockbroker career. He got in with B. Riley Financial, a full-service investment bank, which sponsored him to take the required exams to become a licensed stockbroker.

Although he eventually returned to baseball, nabbing an All-Star nod for the first time in his career this year, Stripling still manages to utilize his investment skills with the rest of the Dodgers team. The response from the team, he said, “has been great.”

The 28-year-old, who’s the only Major League Baseball player who doubles as a stockbroker, fields at least one or two questions every day from people who want to know more about a myriad topics ranging from municipal bonds to equities.

“I’m around a lot of guys who make a lot of money, and they may not necessarily understand it,” he said. “It’s a very complicated subject, and there’s a lot of moving parts. I wanted to be able to help in the locker room, when guys had questions about certain things.”