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PCL Oklahoma City Comets

OKC Dodgers Game Notes - April 5, 2022

April 5, 2022 - Pacific Coast League (PCL)
Oklahoma City Comets News Release


Albuquerque Isotopes (0-0) at Oklahoma City Dodgers (0-0)

Game #1 of 150/Home #1 of 75

Pitching Probables: ABQ-RHP Ryan Feltner (NR, -.--) vs. OKC-RHP Ryan Pepiot (NR, -.--)

Tuesday, April 5, 2022 | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark | Oklahoma City, Okla. | 7:05 p.m. CT

Radio: KGHM-AM 1340 The Game, 1340thegame.com, iHeartRadio; Video: MiLB.tv

Today's Game: The Oklahoma City Dodgers open the 2022 season and their six-game Opening Week home series against the Albuquerque Isotopes at 7:05 p.m. at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Tonight is the first $2 Tuesday of 2022, featuring $2 select beer, soda and bottled water from a line of Budweiser and Pepsi products and $3 COOP Ale Works draft beer. Fireworks are scheduled to follow tonight's game.

2021 Rewind: The Dodgers overcame a slow start and completed the 2021 season with a 67-62 record and second-place finish in the East Division of Triple-A West. After starting the season 4-13 through the first 17 games, the Dodgers rallied to a 63-49 record for the remainder of the schedule. A total of 74 players suited up for OKC during the season, as the team made 257 roster transactions. Thirty players spent time with both OKC and the Los Angeles Dodgers, not including players on Major League Rehab Assignment. Six players made their Major League debuts following the start of the Triple-A Season in early May. Catcher Keibert Ruiz, who began the season tabbed as the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect, first baseman Matt Davidson, outfielder Luke Raley and relief pitcher Darien Núñez were named MiLB Organization All-Stars for the Dodgers. Davidson slugged 28 homers to finish tied for second in the league in home runs and tied for fifth on OKC's all-time single-season leaders list despite only playing in 84 of the team's 129 games. Pitcher Aaron Wilkerson led Triple-A West with a 3.86 ERA - becoming OKC's first league ERA champion since 2014.

Today's Probable Pitcher: Ryan Pepiot takes the mound for his first career Opening Day start and enters the season tabbed as the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 5 prospect by Baseball America...In 2021, Pepiot started the season with Double-A Tulsa and appeared in 15 games (13 starts) with the Drillers, posting a 3-4 record with a 2.87 ERA and 81 strikeouts before appearing in 11 games (nine starts) with Triple-A Oklahoma City to end the season. He was promoted July 31, reaching Triple-A after just 28 career games (23 starts)...He made his Triple-A debut Aug. 2 at Round Rock and allowed two runs on two hits while striking out seven in 5.0 innings, earning the win in a 9-3 Dodgers victory...Overall, Pepiot encountered some struggles in his first taste of Triple-A, going 2-5 with a 7.13 ERA, .305 BAA and 1.80 WHIP...Pepiot is entering his fourth season in the Dodgers organization after being selected in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Butler University, becoming the highest-drafted player in program history...In 2021, Pepiot made two starts against Albuquerque, allowing a combined nine runs and 15 hits (4 HR) over 7.2 innings with seven strikeouts against three walks.

Good Company: By getting the Opening Night nod, Ryan Pepiot joins some recent notable names who have also taken the bump in the first game of the season for OKC: Walker Buehler (2018), Clayton Kershaw (ML Rehab; 2019) and Josiah Gray (2021). Last season, Gray stuck out 10 batters over 5.0 innings at Round Rock and allowed two runs on just three hits in the team's lid lifter but took the loss in a 6-0 defeat.

Against the Isotopes: 2022: 0-0 2021: 9-9 All-time: 116-99 At OKC: 66-38 The Dodgers and Isotopes open the 2022 season with a six-game series, marking just the second time since the teams started competing against one another in 2003 they have opened a season against each other. The teams previously played a season-opening series in 2010 in OKC, splitting the series, 2-2, with Albuquerque winning the opener, 6-3, in 13 innings...The teams split their 2021 series, 9-9. The first 12 games were played in Albuquerque before the series shifted to OKC for the final six games. The Isotopes won seven of the first 12 games before OKC won the final series, 4-2, including the final two games between the teams...Infielder Matt Davidson led the Dodgers with 14 hits in the 2021 series, including four homers, along with a team-best 16 RBI...The Dodgers hit 29 homers over the 18-game series in 2021...The Dodgers have not lost a season series to Albuquerque since 2017, going a combined 6-0 against the Isotopes in 2018 and 2019 prior to last season's split.

Off the Bat: OKC is 10-13 overall in season openers since 1998 and 3-7 at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark on Opening Day. The team has not won a home Opening Day game since 2008, defeating Memphis, 4-3, in 10 innings. The RedHawks/Dodgers have lost five straight games when playing at home on Opening Day since then. OKC last started a season at home in 2019 and in notable fashion with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw taking the mound while on a Major League rehab assignment. The Dodgers went on to lose the game to San Antonio, 5-3, in front of a sellout crowd of 12,472...After a four-week delay to the start of the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dodgers took the field May 6 in Round Rock, suffering a 6-0 shutout defeat. It was the fourth time in the last eight seasons the team has been shutout on Opening Night (also 2013, 2015, 2017). Last year the Dodgers were not shutout for the remainder of the schedule after the first-game blanking.

House Hunting: Since Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark opened in 1998, the team is 8-15 in home openers. The team has dropped eight of its last nine home openers, including a 1-5 record during the Dodgers affiliation. The lone exception was in 2018, which ignited a 15-0 start at home that season...The Dodgers took a 5-2 defeat in their home opener against Sacramento last season.

Roster Rundown: Similar to last season, a Triple-A roster can hold a maximum of 33 players, although only 28 players will be active per game. Some members of the OKC roster will concurrently serve as part of the official Los Angeles Dodgers Taxi Squad. The roster is headlined by three of the Los Angeles Dodgers' top nine prospects per Baseball America: Infielder Miguel Vargas (No. 3) and starting pitchers Ryan Pepiot (No. 5) and Andre Jackson (No. 9). Vargas - who is also the youngest player on the roster at 22 years old - was named Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year in 2021 after a stellar campaign split between High-A Great Lakes and Double-A Tulsa. However, Vargas is not expected to play tonight in OKC as he continues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in their Freeway Series exhibition against the Angels...Pepiot and Jackson were both promoted to OKC in early August last season after strong seasons at Double-A Tulsa. Jackson also made his Major League debut in 2021, and in addition to him, utilityman Zach McKinstry and reliever Darien Núñez are also members of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 40-man roster...OKC's Opening Day roster has 30 players. A total of 11 players spent at least part of the 2021 season with OKC, including infielder Omar Estévez, outfielder Drew Avans, catchers Hamlet Marte and Tony Wolters, starting pitcher Yefry Ramírez and reliever Marshall Kasowski...Eighteen players appeared in the Majors last season with the Dodgers or another organization and 22 have Major League experience in their careers. Infielder Jake Lamb (2017 -- Arizona) and relief pitcher Shane Greene (2019 -- Detroit) are both former Major League All-Stars.

Leading the Charge: Travis Barbary returns for his third season as manager of the OKC Dodgers and his 28th season in the Dodgers organization as a player, staff member or coach. In 2021, Barbary led the OKC Dodgers to a 67-62 record and second-place finish in the East Division of Triple-A West. He was slated to be OKC's manager in 2020 prior to the cancelation of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he served as part of the coaching staff at the Los Angeles Dodgers' Alternate Training Site held at the University of Southern California. During Barbary's first season with OKC in 2019, the team posted a 62-77 record. The Dodgers set a single-season record by hitting 203 home runs and established a new club record for longest road winning streak at nine games...His 2022 staff includes returning hitting coach Manny Burriss and returning bullpen coach Justin DeFratus. Pitching coach Dave Borkowski joins OKC after spending the past three years in the same role with Double-A Tulsa.

Warmest Regards: The Dodgers are back competing in the storied Pacific Coast League, which also has a new logo for 2022. In March, Minor League Baseball announced the return of historical names for the 11 leagues in Major League Baseball's development system. The leagues used regional names during the 2021 season while the rights to use the historic league names were in the process of being acquired by MLB, according to a press release. The PCL was originally founded in 1903 and will feature 10 teams in 2022, including the Dodgers, Albuquerque Isotopes (COL), El Paso Chihuahuas (SD), Las Vegas Aviators (OAK), Reno Aces (ARI), Round Rock Express (TEX), Sacramento River Cats (SF), Salt Lake Bees (LAA), Sugar Land Space Cowboys (HOU), and Tacoma Rainiers (SEA). All 10 teams also competed against one another last season in Triple-A West...Oklahoma City's baseball franchise originally competed in the PCL from 1963--68 as the 89ers and again from 1998--2014 as the RedHawks and 2015--19 as the Dodgers.

In the Lab: Major League Baseball announced in March a variety of experimental playing rules approved for use during the 2022 Minor League season and designed to improve the pace of play, create more action on the field and reduce player injuries. The following apply to Triple-A: ‚¬â€š -- Pitch Timer: On-field timers will be used at all full-season affiliates to enforce regulations designed to create a crisp pace of play, with batters required to be ready to hit and pitchers required to deliver the pitch within allotted periods of time: 14 seconds with the bases empty and 19 seconds with runners on base. Pitchers will risk automatic baserunner advancement if a third pick-off attempt or step-off within the same plate appearance is made without recording an out. These rules were used in tandem in the Low-A West and in the Arizona Fall League in 2021 and led to a significant improvement in pace of play and a reduction in average game time of more than 20 minutes. ‚¬â€š -- Larger Bases: The size of first, second and third base will be increased from 15 inches square to 18 inches square at all full-season affiliates to reduce player injuries. Bigger bases were used in 2021 at the Triple-A level and in the Arizona Fall League and were associated with a decrease in the severity of base-related injuries. In addition, the reduction in distance between bases led to a modest increase in the rate of successful stolen base attempts. ‚¬â€š -- Automated Ball-Strike (ABS): In all Pacific Coast League games this season, ABS technology will be used to call balls and strikes. ABS was used in the Atlantic League in 2019 and in select games in the Low-A Southeast and Arizona Fall League in 2021. In the PCL, umpires will call balls and strikes through May 15, and the ABS system will be utilized in all games beginning May 17. In the International League, ABS will be used throughout the season in all games played in Charlotte. In both leagues, the ABS strike zone will approximate the strike zone called by high-level umpires.

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