The Rays announced that right-hander Ryan Pepiot has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right knee infection, retroactive to July 19. Right-hander Tyler Zuber was recalled from Triple-A Durham in a corresponding move.
Pepiot was acquired from the Dodgers in the offseason trade that sent Tyler Glasnow to Los Angeles. His first season in Tampa has been a solid one so far, as he has made 17 starts with a 3.92 earned run average. He has punched out 26.7% of batters faced while keeping walks down to a reasonable clip of 8.8%.
It’s unclear exactly how or when he injured his knee. His last outing was the Sunday before the All-Star break and he tossed six shutout innings against the Guardians that day. Perhaps it was ailing him after that and the Rays used the break to see if it would improve but didn’t see much progress.
Regardless of how or when it happened, it will subtract from Tampa’s rotation depth, which has been an evolving story in recent weeks. They are not exactly sellers in the traditionally understood way, as they have been hovering around .500 this year. They are currently 49-49 and just 4.5 games out of a playoff spot.
However, they have had some pitchers coming back from lengthy injury layoffs, which has allowed them to make some starters available on the trade market. They recently flipped Aaron Civale to the Brewers and then quickly replaced him with Shane Baz, who had recovered from his Tommy John surgery.
That swap left the Rays with a rotation consisting of Pepiot, Baz, Zach Eflin, Zack Littell and Taj Bradley. With Jeffrey Springs also nearing a return from his own Tommy John surgery layoff, it seemed possible that Tampa could make yet another starter available without really harming their rotation depth in 2024 too much. Eflin and Littell seemed the most likely options there as each is set for free agency after 2025.
Perhaps this injury to Pepiot will change that calculus, but it’s still not clear how serious the injury is or how much time the Rays are expecting him to miss. In the meantime, they will have to replace Pepiot in the rotation, which could just involve reinstating Springs since the lefty has been rehabbing for a couple of months now. Rehab stints normally only last 30 days for pitchers but can be extended in the case of Tommy John surgery recoveries. If Springs isn’t ready, Tyler Alexander and Jacob Lopez are on the 40-man roster and could be recalled.