Ryan Pepiot will start opening day for Triple-A Oklahoma City

Dodgers pitching prospect is expected to contribute in the majors at some point this season, but his 2022 campaign will begin in Triple-A. Pepiot will start on opening day for Oklahoma City, who hosts the Albuquerque Isotopes on Tuesday.

In addition to Pepiot, Andre Jackson will start Thursday’s game for Oklahoma City, per play-by-play broadcaster Alex Freedman.

Pepiot was a non-roster invitee to camp this spring and pitched in three Cactus League games, allowing nine runs in six innings. Pepiot is ranked the second-highest prospect among Dodgers pitchers (behind Bobby Miller), appearing on MLB top-100 lists at both ESPN and Baseball America. The Dodgers drafted Pepiot in the third round in 2019 out of Butler.

True Blue LA readers ranked Pepiot the Dodgers’ fourth-best prospect heading into 2022. David Hood wrote that Pepiot’s struggles with command could lend him more to relieving than starting.

“I would still expect Pepiot to work as a starter in at least the first part of 2022 with Triple-A Oklahoma City,” Hood wrote. “He can be counted on at least for depth in the starting rotation, but ultimately I would not be surprised to see them call him up in the second half for a run in the pen.”

Pepiot spent the final two months of his 2021 season with Oklahoma City, and struggled in the offense-friendly Triple-A West. The right-hander allowed 12 home runs in 41⅔ innings, leading to a 7.13 ERA with 46 strikeouts and 21 walks.

The rest of the Oklahoma City roster will be announced soon. One player slated for the Triple-A roster is pitcher Jon Duplantier, who was a minor league Rule 5 Draft pick of the Dodgers in December.

Duplantier was a non-roster invitee in spring training, and was reassigned to minor league camp on March 16. The Dodgers as of Sunday morning still had 41 players technically in major league camp. That includes outfielder Kevin Pillar, who is on a minor league deal. Nothing has yet been announced regarding his status, but Pillar tweeted on Sunday morning that he was “Excited to start my journey back to the show,” which sure sounds like someone ticketed for OKC.