Pepiot Named PCL Pitcher of Month
Dodgers garner early honors in 2022 as Pepiot also named league’s first Pitcher of the Week and Zach McKinstry named PCL’s first Player of the Week
Oklahoma City Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Month for April as he opened the season 2–0 with a league-best 1.66 ERA through his first five starts.
Pepiot, 24, received the honor May 4 from Minor League Baseball after recording a league-best 29 strikeouts over his first 21.2 innings.
The right-handed pitcher from Westfield, Ind., held opponents to a .182 batting average while posting a 1.06 WHIP. His opponent average ranked third in the league, while his WHIP was fourth.
The Dodgers went 5–0 in his starts and he did not allow more than two runs in any outing while holding his opponent scoreless in three of the five games.
Pepiot entered the season rated as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ №5 prospect by Baseball America and №6 by MLB Pipeline while being considered the organization’s №2 pitching prospect.
He was named OKC’s Opening Night stater against Albuquerque at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. In the April 5 outing, he retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced overall and left the game in a scoreless tie.
In addition to being named the league’s first Pitcher of the Month for the 2022 season, he was also named the PCL’s first Pitcher of the Week for the period of April 5–10.
In his two starts against Albuquerque, Pepiot allowed just one hit over 7.2 scoreless innings, holding the Isotopes 1-for-25 overall and 0-for-10 with runners on base, including 0-for-5 with RISP. Only four of the 29 batters he faced reached base via a hit or walk as he notched seven strikeouts.
It was his second career weekly award and first in Triple-A after receiving weekly honors with Double-A Tulsa June 20–26, 2021.
Pepiot was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University.
Going back to the final month of last season, an OKC pitcher has been named league Pitcher of the Month each of the last two times as OKC’s Aaron Wilkerson received the honor in September 2021.
Zach McKinstry was named the Pacific Coast League’s first Player of the Week for the period of April 5–10 as the Dodgers swept the first weekly league awards of 2022.
During the six-game series against the Albuquerque Isotopes in Oklahoma City, the infielder from Toldeo, Ohio went 11-for-24 with six extra-base hits, eight RBI and five runs.
His 11 early hits paced the league, as did his six extra-base hits, including a league-best three triples.
McKinstry, 27, led the PCL with 20 total bases while his eight RBI and .833 slugging percentage were second and his .500 on-base percentage was tied for second. His .458 batting average and 1.333 OPS were both third during the period as McKinstry picked up the first weekly honor of his career.
He was originally selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 33rd round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of the University of Cincinnati.
