Dodgers rookie Ryan Pepiot was a highly touted prospect since being drafted out of Butler in 2019, but he struggled mightily with his command in his big-league debut season last year. He had a respectable 3.47 ERA, but his 5.42 FIP and 1.459 WHIP suggest quite a bit of good luck went into that ERA. Perhaps most concerning, Pepiot walked 27 batters in just 36.1 innings, a BB/9 of 6.7, which just isn’t the recipe for success in the majors.
Pepiot made his spring debut on Monday, pitching a scoreless inning against the Padres in Peoria, and his command was night and day different from last year.