Dodgers: Ryan Pepiot Learned From Since-Traded Pitcher How to Handle Shuttling Back and Forth to AAA

Dodgers rookie Ryan Pepiot says former teammate Mitch White helped him adjust to the constant back-and-forth between Triple-A and the majors.

Dodgers pitcher Ryan Pepiot was back and forth between Triple-A and the big leagues quite a bit last year, pitching for OKC in every calendar month of the season and for Los Angeles in May, July, August, and September. In total, he moved from OKC to LA and back six different times.

It's the life of a young pitcher on the 40-man roster, but as Pepiot told Dodgers Nation recently, it's not part of baseball they really prepare you for ahead of time.

“It’s something that you don’t really get taught in the minor leagues. You learn a lot about pitching, being on the road, all that stuff. But they never teach you about what it takes to get called up and then sent down all the time. So I talked to a lot of guys that had done it before, like how obviously Tony [Gonsolin] had done it, [Dustin] May had done it a little bit. So, some of the guys that had been through it, and I was like, 'How do you handle it?'"

Pepiot went on to say it was a former teammate he learned the most from, someone who had been through the ups and downs even more than he had.

"I talked to Mitch White a lot, because he did it all the time. I think he was 11 times the year before, before they made the rule. Basically like the Mitch White rule. But, I talked to him, and he was like, just be where your feet are. Whether you’re pitching in Oklahoma City or somewhere other city in Triple-A, or if you’re pitching in the big leagues, just, whenever you get the chance and get the ball, you give it your best.”

That's great advice from White, not only in baseball but in life, to focus on being in the moment at all times. It seemed to help Pepiot, who posted a solid 3.47 ERA in is nine big-league appearances in 2022. Hopefully in 2023, Pepiot will be even more acclimated to his role and have even more success.