by Christian Romo
River Ryan misses hitting.
It’s a natural consequence of the right-handed pitcher’s unusual career path. The North Carolinian started his Minor League career in 2021 as an intriguing two-way project, playing on the infield as well as practicing on the mound, but has since completed his transition to full-time pitching. It was a drastic shift, and it came with a sacrifice.
“I think one of the best feelings in all of baseball is squaring up the ball that when you hit one so hard it doesn’t feel like you hit it,” Ryan says. “I speak for a lot of position players transitioning to pitch, (I’m) definitely missing that side of the ball. It’s one of the biggest reasons I fell in love with the game, but the more I pitch the more I’m falling in love with that side of the game.”
Ryan has been a pitcher all his life, but he hasn’t been just a pitcher for very long, transitioning to the mound full time in 2023 after arriving to the Dodgers via a trade with the San Diego Padres for utility player Matt Beaty on March 28, 2022. And though the learning curve is steeper for Ryan than other full-time professional pitchers, Ryan has rapidly adapted to his new role — as a Major League pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ryan received his first Major League callup on Monday and will pitch for the Dodgers in their series opener against the San Francisco Giants.
“Great compete. Big stuff. Crazy athlete,” says manager Dave Roberts. “Won’t scare off.”
Ryan was a four-year starting infielder out of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke between 2017–21, with a .927 OPS over 138 career games for the Braves. Ryan also pitched out of the bullpen in college, putting up a 2.32 ERA in 93 innings with 11 saves. The Padres took Ryan in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft and played him exclusively as an infielder through 12 games in the Arizona Complex League before the 2022 trade.
Dodger vice president of player development Will Rhymes says that Ryan took off as a prospect once he reached the Dodgers.
“River Ryan has really opened some eyes in our system over the last two years,” Rhymes says. “Since going pitcher full-time, his stuff has taken enormous strides forward. His velocity has spiked up into the upper 90s and the athlete really comes out well on the mound.”
Ryan immediately showed his pitching potential in 2022, striking out 12.8 batters per nine innings over 10 starts at Low-A Rancho Cucamonga before earning a late-season call-up to High-A Great Lakes. He pitched most of the 2023 season at Double-A Tulsa and made his Triple-A debut with Oklahoma City last Sept. 13.
“The last couple of years, (I’ve) just been learning how to throw pitches,” he says. “Now it’s learning what pitches to use in what counts, learning what plays best in what counts and to what hitters.”
Ryan doesn’t have to look far for advice on navigating professional baseball. His father, Sean, was an infielder in the Phillies’ farm system between 1990–93 and his uncle Jason pitched for the Minnesota Twins from 1999–2000. But his biggest influence is his brother Ryder, a relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who made his MLB debut last Aug. 11 with the Mariners.
“I called (my brother Ryder) when I got traded because he had been traded a couple of times already,” River Ryan says. “I just wanted to see what happened on his day, what his train of thought was, what did he do. That helped me when I talked to him.”
Ryan’s stock has skyrocketed over the last couple of seasons. FanGraphs listed Ryan as the №1 prospect in the Dodger system and the №19 prospect in baseball before the 2024 season, while The Athletic’s Keith Law listed Ryan as the №33 prospect in baseball and at №2 in the organization.
His 2024 season start was delayed by a shoulder issue. But it’s been a rapid rise since his season debut on June 3 with the Dodgers’ Rookie Arizona Complex League team. Ryan was with Triple-A Oklahoma City mid-June. Ryan went a season-high five innings on July 10 and allowed two runs, striking out six batters. Now, with the Dodgers in need of a starting pitcher before the arrivals of Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw this week, it’s his time.
River Ryan’ sea change has led him to the big leagues was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.