Another Prospect to Keep an Eye On? Ryan Pepiot

Last night Dodger fans got their first look at Ryan Pepiot, who was a 3rd round pick in the 2019 draft out of Butler University. Pepiot, 23, stands at 6’3 215 pounds, and has an arsenal of a 4 seam fastball that sits between 92-94 and gets good spin on it which allows for the 4 seamer to rise up in the zone. His best pitch however is his change-up which sits in the low 80’s and just fades and dips on batters and we saw that last night. Here’s a video of that change-up. Credit to Blake Harris for the video. Pepiot also has a Slider which has shown flashes but lacks consistency at the moment.

Last night, Pepiot struck out 2 in his inning of work, also gave up a walk but he should the rising heater and nasty change-up. If Dodgers fans remember this shouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen that nasty change-up. Think back to last year at the Summer Camp when he struck out Bellinger with that Change-up. He actually looked really good in his outings last year at the Summer Camp.

He pitched in twenty-three and third innings in the minors in 2019 and had an Era of 1.93 striking out 31 but also walked 13. He’s got strikeout stuff but struggles a bit with his command. The Dodgers have been looking to clean that up since, make his delivery smoother and easier to repeat. He has a bit of a crossfire delivery which causes him to be a bit off-balance and they’re working on finding that balance which should help him locate better. If last night was any indication then he’s already looking like he’s improving on that front.

I’m very excited about his development because of the Change-up which is my favorite pitch to see thrown and the Dodgers think they can get it to spin at the rate of Devin Williams Change. Can they? Time will tell, but it’s encouraging to think they see something there that makes them think it has the potential to get there. Williams has the best Change-up in Baseball, A true Airbender. That alone should get you excited about Pepiot’s development.

 

 

 

 

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