Dodgers News: Ryan Pepiot Describes ‘Tough’ Injury, Long Rehab Process to Get Back
After exiting spring training with an oblique injury, Dodgers starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot finally returned to a major league game Saturday against the Miami Marlins. Pepiot showed no signs of rust, striking out five batters across five innings and only allowing a single earned run.
Pepiot is also coming off of a strong week in Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he was named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week after taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.
Pepiot’s journey back from injury was not an easy one, as he described to our very own Doug McKain in a recent exclusive interview.
“It was a tough one because it was up underneath my ribs, kind of like in the intercoastal as well where the oblique and intercostal connect, so it was a tough one because you can’t really do any soft tissue work to get up underneath your ribs to try to alleviate, and then also trying to have the fine balance of taking time off and throwing, but then also not taking too much time off from throwing so that the build-up phase takes forever and then you could possibly hurt your shoulder or elbow from not throwing enough. So it was just day by day, try to get 1% better each day,” Pepiot said.
(Via Dodgers Nation)
An oblique strain is the most commonly-injured abdominal or core muscle in baseball because it is the most activated core muscle during both hitting and throwing, according to MLB.com. Some oblique strains can heal in a matter of days, and Pepiot was initially expected to return to the big leagues much sooner than he did. However, Pepiot likely had a higher-graded oblique strain, as the 25-year-old missed close to four months.
Before the season, Pepiot was expected to be the fifth man in the Dodgers’ starting rotation. Considering the talent that has emerged, namely Bobby Miller, the Dodgers might not insert Pepiot directly into the starting rotation and instead employ him in other ways. Pepiot told Dodgers Nation that he would be happy coming out of the bullpen or making spot starts, anything that allows him back on the mound.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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