Dodgers’ River Ryan Believes Pitch Clock May Be to Blame For Injury
Pitching has become one of the most dangerous jobs in sports. Dodgers rookie River Ryan became just the latest in a long line of pitchers to land on the injured list this season.
Ryan exited Saturday night’s game in the fifth inning after pitching 4.2 innings of shutout baseball. He said he felt tightness in his forearm, which led to the early hook.
Manager Dave Roberts confirmed on Sunday that Ryan is done for the season.
“Third inning, I started feeling a little tightness in my forearm,” Ryan said after the game. “I got the Theragun, ran it through my arm a little bit. Went back out there for the fifth. Last two pitches, really started to tighten up on me a little bit. I begged Doc to let me keep going. But he pulled the plug on it.”
The rookie blames the 15-second pitch clock for the added stress.
“The pitch clock definitely makes you speed up a lot. Which back in the day you didn’t have to speed up as much when you threw,” he said Saturday, before receiving the diagnosis of a sprained right UCL. “Throwing back-to-back pitches within 15 seconds, it starts to take a toll.”
Ryan becomes the 10th starting pitcher the Dodgers have placed on the IL at least once this season.
“This is probably the highest number I’ve dealt with. And really quality arms,” Roberts said. “You try to do everything you can to prepare them, take care of them, give them extra rest. Right now, it’s just happening a lot, certainly to us.”
The expression on Ryan’s face during Michael A. Taylor’s at-bat Saturday prompted Roberts and an athletic trainer to visit the mound. Ryan argued to stay in the game but it wasn’t his decision to make at that point.
“It really just started tightening up on me a bit, and then Doc was concerned, the trainer was concerned,” Ryan said.
“I definitely didn’t want to come out of the game. I wanted to finish. But they saw me grimace a little bit on the mound, and they’re not going to take any chances. So they decided to call it then and there.”
Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!
The pitch clock really needs to go away. That was a dumb idea from the beginning. Besides the probability that it is causing damage to pitchers it is really an unnecessary and detrimental addition to the game. The other part of that allowing the pitcher to only throw twice to hold a runner on is downright stupid. As we’ve seen after the second throw they’re off and running. That really takes away a lot of the duel between the runner and the pitcher. This commissioner really doesn’t understand baseball or it’s subtilties.
Dave…you make an excellent point. I wasn’t aware of the limit for pickoff attempts. That is ludicrous! That rule takes away the measured strategy employed by a pitcher. The pickoff is a beautiful thing to behold when done right!
Amen to all statements &
especially to the last one!
Dave, Jack and Thomas ….. you are all correct!!!! However, with the brain trust of MLB, starting with the commissioner (Manfred Mann), the rules instigated a few years ago will not change. MLB wants more offense in the game. Also, they want shorter games. They can do both just by putting the bases at 88 feet, the pitching rubber at 63 feet, have it take 4 strikes for a strike out, play seven inning games and let games end in a tie. Yeah. I know that I should probably be locked up but I am very frustrated about how MLB is operated.
MLB is operated with the enlightened management of any similar monopolistic organization. Expecting decisions from Mann & company to focus on anything but money is naive.