CHICAGO -- Following a few days of uncertainty, Ryan Pepiot will get to cross the 30-start threshold for the first time after all.
The 28-year-old right-hander was scratched from his scheduled start Wednesday against the White Sox due to fatigue. Though Pepiot and manager Kevin Cash didn’t think it would cause Pepiot to be shut down for the season, the team still monitored how he felt over the ensuing days.
Pepiot threw a bullpen of 10-15 pitches Saturday at Wrigley Field and said Sunday morning that he “felt fine” and “back to normal” ahead of Tampa Bay's 4-3 loss to the Cubs. His velocity and pitch movement profiles were all in a good spot, and he felt good throwing.
That was enough for Tampa Bay to decide Pepiot would get to pitch again this season. The Rays announced Sunday before their series finale against the Cubs that he will take the ball Tuesday at home against the Blue Jays.
“I think the extra rest and the extra days [helped], spending some time in the training room, getting everything back right,” Pepiot said. “Everything came out good, stuff was good, so I'm looking forward to getting back out there.”
There will likely be some limitations on Pepiot during his outing, given that the Rays are being mindful of his workload as the season winds down.
Pepiot completed only five innings in each of his last three starts, though he was excellent in those, throwing scoreless outings in all three (including five no-hit innings Sept. 4). He’s already thrown 163 innings this season, 33 more than he did in 2024, and the Rays will continue to monitor his workload Tuesday and beyond.
“We're pulling back a little bit on the workloads, in terms of the amount of innings or 'ups,'” pitching coach Kyle Snyder said, “but fully expect him to go out there and compete for five.”
As far as how he got back to a good place over the past few days, Pepiot said he changed up some things, recovery-wise. He utilized as much of the technology in the training room as he could. There was also plenty of communication with the coaches and training staff, both when he was feeling fatigued and in the days after, which helped him get back to feeling like himself.
“Sometimes, as a competitor, you want to hold things in and be like, 'Eh, I'm fine. It's just September, and I'm OK,’” Pepiot said. “But then when you kind of peel back the layers and actually think about stuff and sit down and have conversations and talk while you're playing catch and all that stuff, then you're able to actually make a well-thought-out answer and a decision going forward, rather than just pedal to metal and go and throw through it and potentially make things worse.”
Pepiot said that as a competitor, he wants to take the ball no matter what and try to help his team, especially during Tampa Bay’s current stretch of 13 games in 13 days (amid a stretch of 19 in 20 to end the season). However, he understands he could’ve put himself in harm’s way if he tried to pitch through the fatigue. Ultimately, he felt it was the right decision to skip his start.
But now that Pepiot is feeling good, he’s looking forward to taking the mound again. The Rays’ postseason hopes are slim, but as long as they still have games to play, he wants the ball.
“I don't really want to quit on the year,” Pepiot said. “We play 162 [games] for a reason. Ultimately, they're the ones that make the decisions, and it's not my own decision. But I don't want to quit on the team. I've seen the work that everyone's put in this room, and I don't want to be the guy that sits down and sits there and watches the last couple weeks.
“I'm ready to be back out there. I'm excited to be back out there and take the ball again and finish strong and do what we can to win the rest of them.”