Dodgers’ River Ryan to Undergo Tommy John Surgery

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher River Ryan will undergo Tommy John surgery, a sad but unsurprising announcement two days after it was revealed Ryan had a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Tuesday’s confirmation from the Dodgers effectively rules out Ryan from pitching in 2025, too. The typical recovery timeframe for Tommy John surgery recipients is 12 to 18 months.

Ryan will become the fourth Dodgers pitcher who has missed time this season while recovering from the surgical procedure, in which the critical elbow ligament is replaced with another ligament from the body. Emmet Sheehan, Tony Gonsolin and Walker Buehler are the others.

Since his July 22 debut, Ryan offered enough promise to suggest he might remain in the Dodgers’ starting rotation through the end of the regular season, and perhaps beyond. He was 1-0 with a 1.33 ERA in four major league starts.

Ryan suffered the season-ending injury in Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ryan believes the major league pitch clock could have contributed to the injury.

“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 threw 4.2 shutout innings against the Pirates on Saturday night before feeling tightness in his forearm, which led to the early hook.

“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.”

Ryan, 25, was acquired by the Dodgers in exchange for Matt Beaty in March 2022.

The Dodgers placed Ryan on the 15-day injured list Sunday and recalled Landon Knack from Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Photo credit: Tim Rogers

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