One of the biggest question marks coming into 2022 is whether or not the Dodgers have enough starting pitching coming into the season. Clayton Kershaw isn’t getting younger, Julio Urias has thrown 360.2 innings in the last 2 seasons, Tony Gonsolin has been injury-prone, Dustin May is still trying to get back to his “usual” self after recovering from Tommy John surgery, and so is Noah Syndergaard.

So, it’s probably a fairly conservative idea to think that a 6th starter, if not more, will be needed anywhere from some to quite a bit this next season.

With that being the case, who might fill that 6th role?

The most likely candidates are Ryan Pepiot, Andre Jackson, Michael Grove, Bobby Miller, and Gavin Stone. Today’s article is part I of this series that will focus on the potential contributions of each of these young prospects. 

Today is about Ryan Pepiot.

Ryan Pepiot

Pepiot got his feet wet with LA last year and flashed his “swing and miss” arsenal by posting a K% in AAA OKC of 30.9% and 26.3% with LA. Control/command was an issue at the MLB level, but only at that level, and there is a fairly simple explanation as to why. 

The unpredictability of where he was going to be and the amount of shuffling around he did last year didn’t give him the chance to get comfortable at the MLB level, and, in my opinion, it caused him to press in certain situations. 

But, because he is so competitive, for the most part, he made the pitches when he needed to with LA and, ultimately posted a 3.47 ERA. As a reference, a 3.47 ERA would have been 28th best in all of the MLB last year with enough qualified innings, so, with all things considered, there is no denying that he got the job done, and very well. 

The amount of shuffling both Pepiot and Grove did last year is not something that any of the prospects that have come to build the core of this generation of Dodgers had to endure. 

Once guys like Julio Urias, Walker Buehler, Will Smith, Gavin Lux, Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger, and the like, got to LA, they were allowed to stay. They didn’t have to shuffle around like Mitch White, Andre Jackson, Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove have had to do.

I mention that point, not as an excuse, but to bring up the point of how good Pepiot is when he is comfortable in his role. 

Pepiot was a AAA All-Star in 2022 after posting an ERA of 2.56, a WHIP of 1.07, an average against of .193, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 3.2 to 1. His BB/9 rate was 3.55 in OKC while his K/9 rate was 11.23 so he averaged striking out more than 3 times the amount of hitters than he walked in AAA.

He was dominant with OKC, that much can’t be questioned, but the question that you might be asking is, will it translate to the MLB?

Yes, absolutely, at least in my opinion.

If Pepiot is given enough runway to get comfortable at the Major League level and is given a defined role, his BB/9 will come down, probably by half, while his K/9, as he showed last year at the MLB level, will stay above 1 per inning.

His stuff is explosive, even for the MLB level. 

His fastball averaged 94 MPH which is in the top 50% of all MLB pitchers that threw at least 250 pitches last year. His changeup averaged 86.8 which is in the top 3rd of the MLB and he mixed those 2 pitches with his slider that averaged 87 which puts him on the cusp of the top 20% at the MLB level in terms of velocity for that pitch. 

Could/should Pepiot be moved to the bullpen?

While that certainly is an option, it’s not the first option I would pursue. Pepiot is dynamic and diverse enough to where he has the ability to face hitters in different ways the 2nd and 3rd time through lineups. And, his change-up is good enough to where even if a hitter has seen it in a previous at-bat, it will still be effective.

Pepiot’s change-up looks more like a left-handed slider than it does a right-handed secondary.

Spring Training will be huge for Pepiot. He needs to show the command that he showed with OKC, while maintaining the “swing and miss” he’s always had. If he does that and is given enough runway to establish himself, Dodgers fans will come to trust his ability and he will make an impact. How big I think will be determined by the number of innings that are left available from the starting 5. 

Become a subscriber to our Dodgers Daily YouTube page and follow us on Twitter @dodger_daily, on Instagram @dodger.daily, or on TikTok @dodgers_daily.

Leave a comment, click the like button, and tell all your friends about Dodgers Daily so we can keep growing and keep providing quality content in the future.