The Dodgers introduced Tuesday that prime pitching prospect River Ryan will endure Tommy John surgical procedure. He’ll miss the rest of the 2024 season and presumably the 2025 marketing campaign whereas recovering. Ryan, who posted a 1.33 ERA by his first 4 massive league begins, hit the injured checklist over the weekend after struggling a UCL sprain in his most up-to-date begin.
Ryan’s 2024 season was already recognized to be over, however the Tommy John process marks a worst-case state of affairs within the wake of his UCL harm. An inside brace process may’ve include a shorter timeline for restoration, however he’ll require a full ligament substitute, which tends to shelve pitchers for upwards of 14 months. Each rehab course of is totally different, and there’s all the time an opportunity Ryan may heal a bit sooner than the usual pitcher, however a 12-month restoration is usually an absolute minimal for pitchers who require Tommy John surgical procedure.
The 25-year-old Ryan was an Eleventh-round choose by the Padres in 2021. He went to the Dodgers in a commerce that now appears to be like like a heist, sending first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty again to San Diego. (Beaty performed in 20 video games with the Padres and hit .093/.170/.163 earlier than being reduce free.) Ryan hadn’t even made his skilled debut then and had signed for a $100K bonus, so he was hardly a high-end prospect. Ryan merely attending to the majors would’ve been a participant improvement success story for Los Angeles, however he as a substitute ascended to the purpose the place he’s thought to be one of many prime pitching prospects within the sport. Ryan climbed as excessive as No. 21 on FanGraphs’ top-100 prospect rankings and sits 99th on MLB.com’s top-100 checklist.
The reasoning behind that rise isn’t particularly tough to see. Ryan spent many of the 2023 season in Double-A and pitched to a tidy 3.33 ERA in 97 1/3 frames earlier than being bumped to Triple-A late within the 12 months. He was hit onerous in these two begins however returned to Triple-A this 12 months and carved up opponents with a 2.76 ERA, 28.8% strikeout charge and 9.1% stroll charge in 5 begins. He was restricted within the minors this season on account of a shoulder harm. Nonetheless, Ryan graduated from the majors with a 3.22 ERA, a 28.5% strikeout charge, and a ten% stroll charge in components of three skilled seasons after being traded to the Dodgers group.
Ryan turns into the newest Dodgers hurler to land on the injured checklist in a attempting season for his or her rotation depth. Los Angeles entered the 12 months with Clayton Kershaw on the injured checklist, realizing that Tony Gonsolin would miss most/the entire season recovering from final summer time’s Tommy John surgical procedure. They’ve since seen Emmet Sheehan (Tommy John surgical procedure) and Dustin May (esophageal surgical procedure) fall to season-ending surgical procedures, whereas Yoshinobu Yamamoto (strained rotator cuff) and Walker Buehler (hip and elbow) land on the shelf with long-term harm troubles of their very own. Prospects Nick Frasso (shoulder surgical procedure) and Kyle Hurt (Tommy John surgical procedure) are additionally on the minor league injured checklist and finished for the 12 months. Final 12 months’s breakout right-hander, Bobby Miller, made simply seven MLB begins and was ineffective each with the Dodgers and Triple-Some time navigating a shoulder harm of his personal.
With that laundry checklist of accidents, the Dodgers have a rotation that features Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone and deadline pickup Jack Flaherty. Buehler is predicted to return from the injured checklist later this week, however he’s been bludgeoned for a 5.84 ERA in eight massive league begins and has a 5.01 mark in one other eight Triple-A begins this season — his first 12 months again from 2022 Tommy John surgical procedure. He provided a glimmer of hope in his most up-to-date rehab begin, tossing 5 1/3 innings and holding the Rangers’ Triple-A membership to at least one run on one hit and three walks with 5 punchouts.
As a result of Ryan’s harm occurred whereas pitching on the massive league degree, he’s on the MLB injured checklist and can spend his 2025 rehab on the large league injured checklist. He’ll earn main league pay and repair time whereas recovering from the harm. That’ll give him no less than a full 12 months of service whereas he recovers, placing him on observe for arbitration within the 2027-28 offseason and free company following the 2030 season. In fact, future elective assignments may change one or each of these trajectories and for now, the fast focus will merely shift to the lengthy strategy of getting the proficient younger righty again to full energy with an eye fixed towards a late-2025 or early-2026 return.
