Ryan Falla
The Dodgers Low-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are seeing special things this year as a revolving door of uber-talent on the mound makes its way up the system. From future phenoms such as Maddux Bruns to the sleeper hits in Jared Karros and Payton Martin, there is no end to the spectrum of talent that resides in Low A. Another such pitcher loudly making their entrance into the Dodgers organization is a former unsigned free agent and current bullpen wunderkind Lucas Wepf. Coming out of Canada, 23-year-old Lucas Wepf comes armed with a next-level feel for command that empowers his already-developed repertoire far beyond expectations. Wepf, a former undrafted free agent, now registers as one of the slickest Minor League pickups from last year.
Wepf came into the Dodgers organization out of Louisiana-Monroe where he spent three years and 72 innings pitching out of the pen. Aside from two starts his senior year every outing made at Louisiana-Monroe would come from the bullpen. Though he finished his time in college with pedestrian numbers, ultimately missing the draft, the Dodgers saw enough in the young star to bring him into the organization and give him the ol’ Dodgers try. These organizational hunches would soon come to be as Wepfs productivity has become night and day compared to his time in college.
“In college, my back foot angle was going the wrong way towards home plate. So once we corrected that, it allowed me to fill up the zone more.”
Lucas Wepf is currently blazing through his 2023 debut year with 28.1 innings of 2.86 ERA baseball. On the year he has amassed a total of 50 strikeouts, ultimately building up to a ridiculous 15.9 K/9 rate which unsurprisingly leads the Cal League among pitchers. On top of that, he leads the Cal League in swinging strike percentage at 22.2%. Wepf has allowed just 7 walks to his 50 strikeouts, a stat that sees him rank 2nd in the Cal League among K/BB leaders. It doesn’t always take a complete facelift to revitalize guys coming into a system, sometimes a simple tweak is all that’s needed to really hit the ground running. So is the story for Wepf and the mechanical changes the Dodgers put him through which are now paying off dividends.
“I’ve been taking it one day at a time since I got here. Every day is a new day. One pitch at a time every single day. I’m just staying the course and sticking to my game plan. Luckily I got the call from the Dodgers and I’m really happy to be here.”
Bullpen stability is quite difficult to come by at the Major League level, the only real way to ensure success is to craft your own core. The best bullpens are always built internally, thankfully for the Dodgers’ recent drafting and scouting efforts have put them in line for long-term stability in the future. While things may currently seem rocky at the Major League the amount of talent making it’s way to the big league club cannot be overstated. Wepf may still need some time before his big league days come to fruition, though if development holds up prosperous things are in store for both the young star in the making and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
