Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Ryan Pepiot was named Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month for his showing with Triple-A Oklahoma City during April.
It builds on Pepiot previously earning PCL Pitcher of the Week honors for games played April 5-10. The Dodgers’ No. 2 pitching prospect went 2-0 with a 1.66 ERA over five starts last month.
One of those outings was an Opening Day start for OKC. “It’s very exciting. We have a ton of guys with experience, especially a lot of guys with Major League time,” Pepiot said at the time. “To go out there and be the first guy to take the ball is a special honor.”
He allowed just four earned runs during April — split evenly amongst two starts — and collected 29 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .182 batting average across 21.2 innings pitched.
Pepiot’s longest start was his most recent outing, during which he completed six innings and allowed two runs. His most dominant performance came April 22, when Pepiot had a season-high eight strikeouts and allowed three hits over five innings.
Also for Minor League honors during April, the Dodgers organization was represented by Damon Keith earning California League Player of the Month.
Keith hit .391/.519/.672 with five doubles, three home runs and two triples over 18 games with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. He led the California League in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging (1.191).
Keith additionally ranked second in the league in total hits (25) and runs scored (19). Keith had six multi-hit games during April.
The Dodgers selected Keith in the 18th round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
When will Pepiot make MLB debut?
Although he’s behind Bobby Miller in Dodgers prospect rankings, Pepiot is considered closer to making his MLB debut with the team. That conceivably could come at some point during the 2022 regular season, but the right-hander recently said he’s not consumed by the possibility and instead has his focus on continuing to improve.
The Dodgers selected Pepiot in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
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