The Dodgers have selected right-hander Yency Almonte onto the major league roster and optioned Ryan Pepiot to Triple-A Oklahoma City, reports J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group. Pepiot had been selected himself only Tuesday in order to start yesterday’s game against the Pirates.
Almonte, who made 114 appearances for the Rockies between 2018 and 2021, was off to a strong start in the Pacific Coast League, covering 15 1/3 innings striking out 42.4% of batters faced and issuing only a single walk. But while he was effective in 2018 and 2020, Almonte’s big-league numbers aren’t nearly as rosy. In 124 career innings in the bigs, the righty owns a 5.30 ERA (4.83 FIP) with strikeout and walk rates of 20.7% and 9.7%, respectively. As with any former Rockie, though, Almonte’s overall numbers don’t tell the whole story; while his career ERA of 6.46 in 71 home innings is ghastly even by Coors Field standards, his 3.74 mark in 53 innings at sea level is far more palatable.
Pepiot’s Wednesday debut was something of a mixed bag. While he allowed no runs in his three innings of work, he also walked a bit of a tightrope, issuing five walks and one hit) didn’t give manager Dave Roberts much length — perhaps precipitating the call for an additional arm. While being optioned would ordinarily require a player to remain in the minors for ten days before being recalled, though, his stay could be much shorter. As Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic notes, Pepiot would be eligible to serve as the 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Diamondbacks. With no timetable set for the return of Andrew Heaney from shoulder problems, the Butler product’s trip to Oklahoma City could well be little more than a procedural move as the Dodgers attempt to navigate an innings crunch.