Dodgers Top Prospect River Ryan Suffers Injury in Unfortunate Development

Los Angeles Dodgers top pitching prospect River Ryan is going on the minor league injured list, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Ardaya reports that Ryan has a hamstring issue, which is the same injury that put him on the IL earlier this season.

The 27-year-old had a start skipped this week, and now will miss even more time.

Sources to me and @katiejwoo: Dodgers pitching prospect River Ryan is going on the minor league IL with a hamstring issue. Missed time earlier in OKC’s season with hamstring trouble and had his start skipped this week.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) June 26, 2026

Ryan hasn't pitched at the MLB level since 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. There have been plenty of calls for the team to bring him up to the big league level, though, as he's appeared more than ready for MLB competition.

However, the team has exercised caution throughout the process, and now are unfortunately losing him again for an unknown amount of time.

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

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hinted earlier this week that right-handed pitcher Emmet Sheehan could lose his spot in the rotation amid his struggles. In the event that happened, it would have made sense for Ryan to get called up.

However, that won't be possible any longer.

It remains to be seen how much time Ryan will miss. The Dodgers were likely plnaning on him factoring into the team's pitching plans in the second half of the year.

“Obviously [Ryan] is incredibly talented, and he’s going to be a big part of what we do going forward,” Friedman said to The Athletic. “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.”

How is River Ryan Doing This Season?

Ryan has made eight starts at Triple-A this year, sporting a 4.46 ERA with 43 strikeouts to eight walks over 36.1 innings of work.

He was dominating until his most recent outing in which he allowed eight runs on 10 hits over 4.1 innings. He hasn't pitched since.

Ryan is the team's No. 6 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline and the top pitching prospect in the organization.

He had a 1.33 ERA across four starts for the Dodgers in 2024 before his elbow injury.

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