Ryan Pepiot

Pepiot's spring training ended with an oblique injury which led to him nearly five months at the big league level as he did not make his first major league start until Aug. 19. Pepiot worked 62.2 innings between Triple-A and the majors with excellent ratios and a 64:10 K:BB. Big league hitters hit no better than .203 off any one of his offerings while each of them had at least a 23 percent whiff rate. He did allow a homer in five of his eight outings including multiple homers in two of them, which is something to watch as he continues to hone his craft. Pepiot did work just over 100 innings in 2021 and 127 in 2002, so a projected workload of 140 innings should be reasonable for him in 2024. Banking on Pepiot for 160-plus innings in 2023 would be greedy, so draft him accordingly, as his workload could be managed a bit. Adding another pitch to his repertoire would help him reduce his issues against righties.

Pepiot rebounded from a rough initial stint in Triple-A in 2021 to post a 2.56 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 114:36 K:BB over 91.1 innings at that level last season. The improvement led Los Angeles to call upon the right-hander on nine occasions when in need of a spot starter or primary pitcher, and he held his own in the majors with a 3.47 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and 26.3% strikeout rate. Pepiot's 16.9% walk rate was less encouraging and highlights the primary obstacle in his path to becoming a front-of-rotation starter. There's a lot to love about his stuff, particularly his devastating changeup that is regarded as perhaps the best in the minors. His fastball also grades out well above-average, but his struggles with commanding it have at times impaired his ability to maximize the effectiveness of the changeup. Pepiot's command issues also led to too many home runs while up in the majors last season (six in 36.1 innings), and it's clear that learning to harness his arsenal will be key to his success moving forward. The Dodgers could certainly fill their need for a No. 5 starter with an offseason acquisition, but if they opt to look internally, Pepiot would likely be among the candidates to compete for the role.