Dodgers News: From One Rehabbing Arm to Another: River Ryan Checks Off Major Milestone in Spring Debut
A clean, encouraging debut shows the Dodgers may soon have another young weapon back in the mix.
GLENDALE, AZ—Coming into Thursday’s action, the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers hold a 6-0 record in Cactus League play, and while that’s not an indicator of regular-season diminence, what they have shown is their elite pitching depth, which was on full display the last two games.
On Wednesday, right-handed pitcher and 2024 standout of the starting rotation, Gavin Stone, made his highly anticipated return to the mound for Los Angeles after having season-ending shoulder surgery in September of 2024.
Stone was impressive, hitting 95-96 MPH and showcasing his signature change-up, which induced two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first inning, and yesterday, fellow young right-hander River Ryan made his spring debut too.
Ryan, 27, made his first appearance out of the Dodgers’ bullpen in yesterday’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, tossing his own scoreless innings, including elite velocity upward of 98 MPH.
Ryan’s 2024 debut gave the Dodgers a glimpse of his electric upside, delivering a 1.33 ERA across 20.1 innings. Unfortunately, his momentum was halted after just four starts when Tommy John surgery shut him down.
Now fully healthy, Ryan returned to the mound and pitched a scoreless inning in his first game since August 10th, 2024. The right-hander, who bulked up over the winter during his rehab, struck out Nolan Arenado looking and induced a groundout from Ildemaro Vargas before walking Jordan Lawlar, who was caught stealing to end the inning.
However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did share comments on both Stone’s and Ryan’s rehab, indicating that Stone was further along, as Ryan was struggling with command in his side session bullpens.
“It was definitely nerve-wracking,” Ryan said. “The hardest thing to control out there was my adrenaline. I haven’t felt adrenaline like that in a year and a half, so trying to dial that back when I was out there was pretty hard. … Just happy I was able to get out there and exit the field, you know, intact.”
While the Dodgers came into spring training with a solid six-man rotation in mind, those plans have changed with as many as three potential spots up for grabs behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, and Tyler Glasnow, as left-hander Blake Snell looks unlikely for Opening Day.
For the final three spots, it’s expected to be a battle between Emmet Sheehan, Roki Sasaki, Gavin Stone, and even River Ryan, with Landon Knack and left-hander Justin Wrobleski also in the mix.
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