The Los Angeles Dodgers have only been swept twice this season. Sunday, however, saw them up against it for the second time in three weeks. Enter River Ryan.
The Dodgers second-best pitching prospect & no. 4 overall prospect (according to MLB Pipeline) took the hill with the team hoping to avoid a third straight loss to the Houston Astros. Not only did they need Ryan to be good, they needed him to work deep into the game.
Between various injuries and recent usage, the Dodgers were working with a short relief corps behind the rookie. It's not typically a recipe for success. Especially when the longest outing for such an arm is just barely over 70 pitches.
To his credit, though, Ryan delivered exactly what the Dodgers needed on Sunday. He threw 5.2 innings and allowed just a single run, with three walks and only two hits mixed in. He struck out eight. Most notable in the sentiment department is the fact that it marked Ryan's first win as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Everything about the start marked a career-best for Ryan, who didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. He exceeded his first start in outs and pitches, working his way up to 91 with respect to the latter (up from 73 in his first start). He quadrupled his strikeout total from the first start and cut his hits allowed in half.
The start, in conjunction with plenty of offense, allowed the Dodgers to be procedural with their bullpen. Alex Vesia threw 1.1 innings, while Joe Kelly & Brent Honeywell Jr each threw an inning to close it out.
The better news for the Dodgers is they get a day off on Monday and another one on Thursday. While Ryan was able to deliver exactly what they needed, the combination of two days off and the trade deadline should allow them to replenish in various ways in order to avoid having to put such pressure on a rookie again in the near future.