Right-handed pitcher Nick Tepesch is expected to start for the Dodgers tomorrow in Pittsburgh, according to a source. Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com also reported today that Tepesch would be promoted from Triple-A to make his Dodgers debut.
Update (12:00 p.m. PT): The Dodgers confirmed that Tepesch will be added to the roster and start tomorrow, with a corresponding move still TBA. Clayton Kershaw will start Saturday, Kenta Maeda will start Sunday (on two extra days’ rest) and Scott Kazmir will start Monday.
The Dodgers only claimed Tepesch on waivers earlier this month. The Texas Rangers released him June 4 after Tepesch exercised an out in his contract. To that point in the season he had a 4.22 ERA in 11 starts for Triple-A Round Rock.
The Dodgers claimed Tepesch two days later and promptly inserted him into the rotation at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Since then he’s gone 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts. His strikeout-to-walk ratio, 31-to-11 with Round Rock, has jumped to 17-to-3 with Oklahoma City.
Tepesch, 27, appeared in 42 major league games (39 starts) for the Rangers between the 2013 and 2014 seasons. He has a career 4.56 ERA (4.66 FIP) with 132 strikeouts and 71 walks in 219 innings.
In 2015, Tepesch was sidelined in spring training with thoracic outlet syndrome, which eventually required surgery later that year. He didn’t appear in a game at any level that season. The procedure is the same one that former Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett had in 2013.
Tomorrow’s game will be the first major league start for Tepesch since Sept. 26, 2014, and his first at any level since last Friday. In that game, Tepesch allowed one run in eight innings in Oklahoma City’s 6-2 win at New Orleans.
The Dodgers have a well-earned travel day today after winning six in a row at home against the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals. The break in the schedule would have allowed right-hander Kenta Maeda to start tomorrow on normal rest.
However, the Dodgers elected to push Maeda back a day. Five days’ rest between starts is in line with the schedule Maeda observed in Japan, where he pitched professionally from 2008-15.
According to the Pirates’ website, they’ll send Jameson Taillon to the mound Friday, Jeff Locke on Saturday and Francisco Liriano on Monday. Sunday’s starter (opposite Kershaw) remains TBA.
Since Tepesch is not on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster or 25-man roster, at least one corresponding move will have to be made before tomorrow’s game.