The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost another starting pitcher to injury. Rookie righty River Ryan exited Saturday night's start against the Pittsburgh Pirates (LAD 4, PIT 1) after 4 2/3 innings and 56 pitches with what was initially described as forearm tightness. On Tuesday, things turned for the worse as the club announced that Ryan would soon undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL in this throwing elbow. Manager Dave Roberts had already confirmed that Ryan's 2024 season was over, and now it seems likely he'll miss most if not all of the 2025 season, as well.
Los Angeles placed Ryan on the injured list Sunday and called up righty Landon Knack to fill the roster spot.
Ryan said he began to feel discomfort in his forearm in the third inning saturday, but he was able to loosen it up with a massage gun between innings. It tightened back up on him in the fifth inning, and Roberts and the training staff removed Ryan from the game after they noticed him wincing. Ryan missed the first two months of this season with a sore shoulder.
Forearm tightness is a common symptom of elbow ligament trouble and often a precursor to Tommy John surgery, and indeed that turned out to be the case with Ryan. Ryan was in the rotation because the Dodgers have a full rotation on the injured list, plus several notable prospects on the injured list in the minors. The team's rotation depth chart currently looks like this:
- RHP Tyler Glasnow
RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto(out with shoulder issue, expected to face hitters next weekend)RHP Walker Buehler(out with hip issue, expected to return Thursday)- LHP Clayton Kershaw
- RHP Jack Flaherty
- RHP Gavin Stone
RHP Tony Gonsolin(will miss 2024 with Tommy John surgery)RHP Dustin May(will miss 2024 with flexor tendon and esophageal surgery)RHP Emmet Sheehan(will miss 2024 with Tommy John surgery)RHP River Ryan(will miss 2024 with Tommy John surgery)LHP Kyle Hurt(will miss 2024 with Tommy John surgery)- RHP Landon Knack
- LHP Justin Wrobleski
Bobby Miller, last year's rookie star, missed two months with shoulder inflammation earlier this year and had an 8.07 ERA in seven big-league starts before being demoted. He has a 5.82 ERA with nearly as many walks (16) as strikeouts (17) in five Triple-A starts and has been passed over for several call ups, so it's safe to say Miller is an emergency option only right now.
Ryan, 26 next week, is a converted infielder who came over from the rival San Diego Padres in a minor trade for utility man Matt Beaty in March 2022. He has a 1.33 ERA in four MLB starts this year. Baseball America ranked Ryan as the No. 10 prospect in the Dodgers' system in their midseason update and said he "has the stuff to be a mid-rotation starter."
The Dodgers have used 17 different starting pitchers this season, the most in baseball, yet they are 70-49 and have the best record in the National League. That said, another National League West title is far from guaranteed, as both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres trail the Dodgers by just 3 1/2 games going into Tuesday night's slate.
