Andrew Friedman Reveals Why Dodgers Are Holding River Ryan Back

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a strong collection of talent across the roster, and sometimes, this can hold prospects back from reaching the big leagues.

There are only so many spots on a major league roster, and this has forced the Dodgers to move on from guys in previous years. This season, the team has been holding back on pitching prospect River Ryan, despite his dominance at the Triple-A level.

Ryan has proven himself since coming back from Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2025 season. In eight starts this year, Ryan has posted an ERA of 4.46, striking out 43 batters over 36.1 innings. Before his most blow-up outing in which he allowed eight runs, he had a 2.81 ERA.

Due to his success, many have called for the Dodgers to bring Ryan up to the big leagues. This has been especially true with Los Angeles dealing with injuries to both Blake Snell (elbow) and Tyler Glasnow (back) within the starting rotation.

But to this point, the Dodgers have held firm on their stance to keep the right-hander in the minors for now. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman revealed why, and what the plan for Ryan is going forward.

“Especially with our young pitchers, as much patience as we can exercise when they’re coming back from a major surgery, the better,” Friedman said to The Athletic. “The level of intensity is different at the major league level than it is in the minor leagues.”

It seems that the Dodgers want to make sure that Ryan is fully healthy over a longer period of time before he gets called up. While Ryan has shown himself to be healed from the injury, the Dodgers are taking a cautious approach with him.

Additionally, it seems that Los Angeles wants to bring Ryan up for good whenever the call gets made. The team doesn't want to send him back to the minor leagues after the move, so they are waiting for the right time later in the season.

“Obviously [Ryan] is incredibly talented, and he’s going to be a big part of what we do going forward,” Friedman said. “But we’ve seen it with a lot of our young guys coming back from major surgery; it’s tough. And as much as we can ease that process along to have him in as good a spot to not only help us at the major-league level, but also be a very strong option for us in October, the better.”

Ryan has experience in the major leagues, with him making four starts for the Dodgers back in 2024. In the limited time, Ryan proved that he belonged, posting an ERA of 1.33 over 20.1 innings.

The Dodgers have a clear plan for how they want to handle Ryan, even with his success in the minor leagues. The front office and coaching staff have earned the trust in matters like this, but it seems it's only a matter of time before Ryan is back helping the Dodgers try to win games.

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