Former college teammates Ross Stripling and Michael Wacha will face off Friday

The trash talk started about a week ago, when Ross Stripling learned he would face Michael Wacha, his former teammate and roommate at Texas A&M, when the St. Louis Cardinals come to Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

“Mostly, it’s not even about how we pitch,” Stripling said before Thursday’s series finale against the New York Mets. “It’s about how we hit off each other.”

The pair settled on a bet: Stripling expected to dine with Wacha after the game. The loser would pay the tab.

Stripling was a sophomore when Wacha enrolled at College Station. They lived across the hall from each other three years. Both were drafted in 2012 — Wacha in the first round, Stripling in the fifth. They lived together during the winter after their first professional seasons, before both settled in Houston.

“It’s funny, because when we first signed, it was a competition, like ‘Who is going to get there first?’” Stripling said.

Wacha ended the competition in swift fashion. He debuted in May 2013 and won the most-valuable-player award from the National League Championship Series.

Stripling took a more circuitous route. He tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 2014 and underwent Tommy John surgery. He pitched his way back into prominence this spring, and earned a spot in the Dodgers rotation after injuries to Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger.

Stripling entered Friday on an upbeat note. In his last start, he held the Toronto Blue Jays to one run over six innings, bouncing back after failing to complete the sixth in his previous three outings.

And now he’ll get a chance to duel his close friend.

“You’ve got to enjoy it,” Stripling said. “How often do you get to pitch against your college roommate and teammate? I’ll definitely watch him, and be cheering for our guys.”

Fien off 40-man roster

The Dodgers removed reliever Casey Fien from the 40-man roster and out-righted him to triple-A Oklahoma City. Fien cleared waivers, just five days after the Dodgers claimed him off waivers from Minnesota.

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes