By RICHIE HALL
Two years ago, Ryan Pepiot signed a contract to join the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, officially making him a professional baseball player.
Since then, the Westfield graduate has been on a fast track to success. After pitching a few games in Rookie Ball and Low A during 2019, Pepiot kept himself sharp in 2020 despite the disruptions to the baseball world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as he played games at an alternate training site.
When this year began, Pepiot climbed another rung up the MiLB ladder, joining the AA Tulsa Drillers. He has been solid in the team’s pitching rotation, and made headlines due to a near-perfect performance in the Drillers’ July 4 game against the Arkansas Travelers.
Pepiot went seven innings for Tulsa and did not give up a single hit, setting down the Travelers’ first 21 batters. He threw 11 strikeouts during that time, needing only 69 pitches.
“I was feeling really good,” said Pepiot. “I felt locked in, focused, had everything working for me. Defense was great for me, my catcher Hunter Feduccia called a great game. Just went out there and attacked hitters.”
The Drillers sent Pepiot out to start the eighth inning, but he ran into trouble with the first Arkansas batter, who drew an eight-pitch walk. That put Pepiot at 77 pitches, which is over the mandated 75-pitch count in effect for the team.
“Went like eight pitches and ended up walking them, so that was the end of the day for me,” said Pepiot. As he left the game, the Tulsa crowd gave him a well-deserved standing ovation.
The Drillers went on to win the game 3-0, with the catcher Feduccia nailing a two-run home run in the fifth inning. While frustrated about having to leave the mound, Pepiot understood the rules.
“With the lack of a last season, the Dodgers have been very cautious with arms,” said Pepiot. The Drillers started the 2021 season limiting pitchers to 60 pitches in a game, and that got moved up to 75 by the time of Tulsa’s game with the Travelers. Eventually, Pepiot said the count will be increased to 90 pitches per game.
“They’re pretty strict,” he said.
Pepiot has played in 15 games this season, starting 13, and holds a 2.87 earned-run average with 81 strikeouts. He has allowed his opponents a .149 batting average, giving up only 30 hits. Pepiot is part of a five-man starting rotation for the Drillers. The team is playing six-game series with every Monday as an off day, which means Pepiot pitches “every five or six days, depending on how it lines up with an off day.”
“It’s been pretty good this year to have a start, recover well from it and then have a bullpen a couple days later, getting me ready for the next one,” said Pepiot.
Pepiot is normally a starter, although there are occasional exceptions where he comes in during the game.
“They’re going to do that from time to time just to get the starters prepared if we go up to the big-league club,” said Pepiot. “Most likely we’ll be out of the bullpen to start.”
“It’s a lot of practice for the big leagues, just getting prepared for that,” said Pepiot. “A lot of situations are similar. They’re just helping us prepare for whenever that call comes.”
Pepiot, 23, graduated from Westfield High School in 2016, then played college ball at Butler University for three years. Upon signing with the Dodgers organization, Pepiot started out in Rookie Ball playing in the Arizona League, then jumped to the Low A division, where he played for the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Mich.
Then came 2020. The Minor League Baseball season was canceled that year. But Pepiot and other players got to play at alternate training sites. Pepiot went to the University of Southern California, one of 30 players there training and playing intersquad games.
“We weren’t able to play any outside competition, but it was just playing against ourselves every day,” said Pepiot.
Still, Pepiot said it was nice to be able to get some more game experience and work with the coaching staff that was there. In addition to his fellow MiLB players, a couple of Major League players that were on the injury list at that time were at the alternate site, including Gavin Lux and Joc Pederson. A few AAA players were there as well.
“For me, being able to be at the alternate site did allow me to have some development last year for as close to a season as anyone could have in 2020,” said Pepiot. “That helped me to be able to go from Low A in 2019 to start in AA this year.”
That’s not a bad jump for someone who entered the pro ranks just two years ago. And Pepiot’s play at Tulsa has gotten notice. David Hill, a writer for the website calltothepen.com said in article the day after Pepiot’s no-hit performance that the Dodgers need to move him up to AAA.
“Considering he needed only 77 pitches to fire 7+ no hit innings, it is clear that he is ready for the next challenge,” said Hill.
Pepiot, meanwhile, is content to keep doing what he’s doing, as that has gotten him pretty far.
“Whenever a callup happens, I’m assuming that the situation will be rather similar,” said Pepiot. “Just continue to throw the ball like I have.”