Pitching injuries are an unfortunate reality of baseball in 2024. And the Los Angeles Dodgers have experienced them at a staggering rate, even by today's standards.
Already this season, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan all spent time on the Dodgers' injured list. That doesn't even count Shohei Ohtani, who is hitting, but hasn't pitched after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September.
Even with the trade acquisition of Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers were hurting for innings in their starting rotation. And that struggle could continue well into 2025, especially in the wake of some tough news from Tuesday.
According to multiple reports, the Dodgers announced on Tuesday that rookie River Ryan, who exited his start early Saturday and was previously shut down for the year, will undergo Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow.
Ryan, 25, was an 11th-round pick for the San Diego Padres in 2021. He was acquired by the Dodgers in a 2022 trade, blazed through the minors, then posted a 1.33 ERA in his four starts with Los Angeles this season, his first four outings as a big-leaguer.
The typical recovery time frame for Tommy John is over a year, meaning Ryan will not only miss the rest of the 2024 season, but could very well miss all of 2025 as well.
Ryan threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the Pirates on Saturday before experiencing forearm tightness on an errant pitch. He was removed from the game and placed on the injured list late Saturday evening.
Ryan also told reporters after the game that he believes the pitch clock, which was implemented at the MLB level in 2023, affects the heightened number of injuries to pitchers around the game.
It's a brutal blow for a promising arm who looked to be on the way to establishing himself at the big-league level. But the Dodgers will press on, just without one more arm in a season marred by pitching injuries.
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