PETERSBURG, ST. — For the better part of 48 hours last week, the baseball world was fascinated by the potential trade of Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers.
Meanwhile, Ryan Peppiot and Johnny DeLuca looked like actual POWs.
Their first clue about this trade was when they heard their name mentioned on social media as candidates for a trade from Los Angeles to Tampa Bay. Dodgers officials will soon be calling to confirm trade talks, but DeLuca and Pepiott are left wondering what direction their baseball futures will take as final details are finalized. I waited for several days, wondering and answering questions.
“Oh, my phone died right away,” Pepiot said. “I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday night when the first word got out, I got probably 20 to 30 text messages and a few phone calls. ‘There’s something legitimate about this. Is this true? ‘I was like, ‘I don’t know, I haven’t heard anything yet.’ ”
“When it first happens, it’s kind of funny because we’re getting the same updates and information at the same time as everyone else,” DeLuca said. “People ask, ‘Okay, is this real?’ ‘I get the same tweets as you, so I don’t know how to respond.’
By the time the deal was completed, Pepiot and DeLuca’s conversation had evolved from “Did you hear something?” “Do you know where you live?”
Until I received a phone call last week from manager Kevin Cash, pitching coach Kyle Snyder, senior director of travel and logistics Chris Westmoreland, and others, I knew the most about the Rays organization by checking out the roster online and getting in touch with the organization. It was limited to checking whether someone knew someone there. .
Well, that and a short trip to the Bay Area.
Pepiott said he went to Tropicana Field on vacation in high school and also to the Yankees Complex in Tampa for pre-draft training in 2019. DeLuca, who grew up in Southern California as a surfer and Dodgers fan, had a more recent experience.
“I just attended my best friend’s wedding in Tampa in November,” DeLuca said. “I came back and told my parents about the time I went to St. Pete’s Beach and St. Petersburg. And I was like, ‘Hey, this place is kind of awesome.'” Love the location. ‘So then you see yourself being traded there and you’re like, ‘OK, this isn’t the worst thing in the world.’ It’s a nice place. ”
Not a bad place to be a young baseball player. Peppiot, who is 5-1 with a 2.76 ERA in two seasons with the Dodgers, is part of the Rays’ rotation along with Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Shane Baz, who are all in various stages of rehabilitation after elbow injuries. has a legitimate chance to start the season. Surgery.
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Peppiot, 26, did more bulk work in 2023 after starting seven games the year before, but he pitched more innings by transitioning from a sweeper-type breaking ball to a harder slider. Ta. He also had much better command, with 1.1 walks per nine innings compared to 6.7 in 2022.
“In 2022, we were able to have a little bit of success even when we didn’t think we had the best of things,” Peppiot said. “So, I’m just trying to get that experience … going into that (2023) season with something that I feel like I can attack the lineup with more through the second and third innings.”
DeLuca, 25, was a 25th-round pick out of the University of Oregon in 2019 and transformed, making his major league debut last summer. DeLuca, who batted .226 with 11 home runs in college, finished the year with a .270 batting average and 22 home runs. He played between Class A and Triple-A in the 2021-23 season, playing all three outfield positions. A switch hitter in college, DeLuca decided to play exclusively as a right-handed hitter in the minors.
“I definitely had room for improvement,” DeLuca said. “When they drafted me, I felt like it was all because of my athletic ability. I could run and play defense as well. So I actually decided to go right-handed. That was a pretty big decision. The Dodgers didn’t do that. I was the one who wanted to do that. In the 2019 season, I played 20 to 25 games in rookie ball and didn’t put up good numbers, but I didn’t know what I could be. I definitely knew that.”
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