Dodgers’ Top Prospect To Miss Cactus League Due to Injury
River Ryan, on of the top pitching prospects for the Los Angeles Dodgers, will most likely not pitch in the Cactus League due to shoulder fatigue.
After pitching a career-high 104.1 innings last season, the Dodgers are being cautious by starting his season late.
Unless a more serious underlying condition is causing an issue, Ryan could find himself in a similar situation to Bobby Miller last year. He didn’t start his season until late April in Triple-A Oklahoma City. By the end of May, he had made his big league debut with Los Angeles.
Ryan was drafted by the Padres in the 11th round out of North Carolina Pembroke and was traded to the Dodgers in exchange for Matt Beaty.
Ryan was a pitcher and infielder in college, but once he became part of the Dodgers’ system, he became a full-time pitcher. In his second full season as a pitcher only, he reached Triple-A and struck out almost a quarter of the batters that he faced.
He’s up to 99 mph and pitches at 94-97 with a hammer curveball, sweepy slider, and hard fading changeup, dominating right-handed batters last year while showing some platoon split, particularly in OBP (he allowed a .388 OBP to lefties last year due to a 13 percent walk rate against them). He’s a superb athlete, as you’d expect from a former middle infielder, and his body looks ready to step into a major-league rotation now.
– Keith Law via The Athletic
Keith Law of The Athletic has Ryan ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the Dodgers’ farm system. He says Ryan could be a No. 2 starter but needs more reps to be ready for his big league debut. However, if he continues to progress at the rate he has, Ryan could be called up before September.
Nick Frasso is another pitching prospect who will miss the spring. He underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder in November and is still a month away from starting his throwing program.
The Dodgers used their offseason to rebuild their starting rotation, acquiring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and James Paxton. That could buy time for Ryan and Frasso to get healthy before their number is called.
Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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