Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
| IP | K% | BB% | HR/9 | ERA | FIP | WAR | |
| MiLB (Round Rock/OKC/ Nashville/Omaha) |
116.0 | 14.2 | 6.4 | 0.54 | 3.96 | 4.45/3.22/ 5.44/4.04 |
N/A |
| MLB (LA) | 4.0 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 2.25 | 11.25 | 4.90 | -0.1 |
What happened in 2016: Made one start for the Dodgers before being designated for assignment.
If you don’t remember much about Nick Tepesch, you can hardly be blamed. His time as a Dodger, from the day he signed his minor league contract to the day he was DFA’d, lasted all of three weeks.
Tepesch was a 14th-round draft pick by the Texas Rangers in 2010. He spent his entire career in their system until he was released in early June of 2016. On June 6, the Dodgers signed him to a minor-league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Tepesch made three starts with for the OKC Dodgers, with decent results: 18 IP, five runs allowed (four earned), and 17 strikeouts vs. three walks.
Still, when Tepesch was called up, it wasn’t so much that he earned it as it was that the Dodgers had basically no other options. Dustin explained at the time:
Tepesch isn’t the ideal candidate to start on Friday, but the Dodgers kind of backed themselves into a corner.
Mike Bolsinger was optioned to Triple-A after his last start, meaning he could not come back up to start before 10 days had passed unless the Dodgers placed someone on the disabled list. The same situation applied to Carlos Frias, who was optioned back to OKC when Yasiel Puig was activated. Jose De Leon is not yet stretched out enough to start. And really, the Dodgers shouldn’t be bringing him up for a spot start anyway. Brock Stewart is scheduled to start Friday for OKC, but he just got to Triple-A and isn’t ready for the majors yet. Jharel Cotton could have been an option, but he pitched on Monday. Frankie Montas would have certainly gotten the call if he weren’t on the minor-league DL. Ross Stripling is still in Arizona nursing an “injury.” And despite the off day today, the Dodgers wanted to give the rotation an extra day of rest. Honestly, that’s probably the smart move.
On June 24, Tepesch made his Dodger debut in Pittsburgh. In that start against the Pirates, Tepesch delivered four innings, allowing five runs on seven hits (one home run). He struck out three, walked none, and was removed for a pinch hitter after 66 pitches. The Dodgers ended up losing that game, 8-6.
And that was it for Tepesch and the Dodgers. The very next day, he was DFA’d. The A’s claimed him off of waivers, but he didn’t last long in their system, either, getting designated, yet again, a mere 18 days later. The Royals then claimed him off of waivers from the A’s. Tepesch appeared in five games at Triple-A Omaha before getting DFA’d one last time.
2017 status: Free agent.
