Rays Put Starting Pitcher Ryan Pepiot on IL, Call Up Taj Bradley to Start vs. Yankees This Weekend

The Tampa Bay Rays are being cautious with starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot. Still sore after getting hit by a line drive last Sunday, the Rays put him on the 15-day injured list on Wednesday.

Apr 29, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot (44) throws a pitch / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay pitcher Ryan Pepiot was in a lot of pain last Sunday when he was drilled in the leg with a line drive by New York Mets slugger Starling Marte. Three days later, he's still not feeling much better.

The shot to the left leg, which knocked him out of the game in the third inning, is still bothering him enough that the Rays put him on the 15-day injured list Wednesday, retroactive to May 6. The Rays are calling it a lower leg contusion.

They reinstated right-handed pitcher Taj Bradley from the 15-day injured list and he likely will make his first start of the season this weekend against the New York Yankees. The two AL East rivals will play a three-game series at Tropicana Field on Frida,y, Saturday and Sunday.

Pepiot, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade, has been pitching well for Tampa Bay. He's made seven starts and is 3-2 with a 3.68 earned run average. Opposing hitters are batting just .188 against him.

Bradley, who's in his second year with the Rays, missed the first six weeks because of a right pectoral strain suffered during spring training. Probably rushed to the big leagues a little too soon last year because of injuries to the Rays' rotation, Bradley was just 5-8 with a 5.59 ERA as a rookie.

Being another year older has the Rays excited. He looked good in his two rehab starts in Triple-A Durham, pitching a combined 11 innings with 15 strikeouts.,

The 23-year-old posted good strikeout numbers a year ago, too, He had 129 punch-outs in just 104 2/3 innings.

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