The Los Angeles Dodgers transferred Ryan Pepiot to the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from a left oblique strain he was dealing with at various points during Spring Training.
The move made room to add right-hander Jake Reed to the 40-man roster, as he was recalled to take the place of Michael Grove prior to Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
Pepiot was poised to be on the Dodgers Opening Day roster for the first time in his career, filling in as the fifth starter while Tony Gonsolin is out with his own injury. But he was a surprise addition to the 15-day IL when the roster was announced.
The Dodgers were originally optimistic Pepiot would recover quickly, but he has yet to resume throwing, which means he has a long rehab process to go. Once he is cleared for full baseball activities, Pepiot will still need roughly a month to build his arm back up.
“Ryan is just doing one-arm plyos in Arizona. We’re all kind of miffed at the slow progress,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said this week. “He’s still not throwing a baseball.”
The 25-year-old struggled with control and executing pitches in his final start of Spring Training against the Los Angeles Angels, only going 3.2 innings while giving up five runs, but he still threw 86 pitches in the start.
Last season, Pepiot made seven starts for the Dodgers, going 3-0 with a 3.47 ERA across 36.1 innings pitched. For Triple-A Oklahoma City, he posted a 2.56 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 91.1 innings over 17 starts.
When will Ryan Pepiot return?
The roster move prevents Pepiot from being activated until at least May 29. Even that may be an optimistic date given the right-hander hasn’t been cleared for baseball activities.
Because of the prolonged absence, Pepiot will effectively need to repeat a Spring Training buildup and go on rehab assignment.
More must-reads: