Dodgers Unlikely to Call Up Hard-Throwing Top Prospect to Replace Blake Snell

The hits keep on coming to the starting rotation of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with ace Blake Snell now out for multiple months. Snell will be undergoing elbow surgery on Tuesday to repair loose bodies, and his timetable for return is unknown at this time.

However, Los Angeles does expect the left-hander to return this season, likely well before the playoffs. With this news, the Dodgers will need to figure out how to put together the rotation for the foreseeable future.

One option that seemed to make sense would be right-hander River Ryan, who recently came off the minor league injured list after recovering from a hamstring injury. However, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't make it sound like it would be a possibility, as he's far from built up after the injury..

“The possibility of him pitching for us — it’s a possibility, but it’s a slim possibility,” Roberts said. “The most important thing is his progression. If everyone isn’t on board with that and speeding it up, then it’s moot. It’s not going to happen. It’s a nonstarter. But if the training staff feels that it’s OK and you’re not compromising him and the progression, then it’s a conversation. But I don’t know yet.”

Ryan missed the entire 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and then came back and hurt his hamstring, so the Dodgers aren't going to rush him back to to the major league level.

Ryan did return from the hamstring issue and continued to impress with his velocity. Ryan was able to get his velocity on his fastball up past 100 mph, which is a very encouraging sign for him coming back from injury.

Ryan is currently ranked as the No. 6 prospect in the Dodgers' farm system, and the team has high hopes for him going forward. In limited time with the big league club in 2024, Ryan was very impressive, appearing in four games and putting up an ERA of 1.33 over 20.1 innings of work.

The right-hander is the top pitching prospect in the system, but it seems that Los Angeles will wait to call him up. But his return to the mound from the hamstring injury is nice to see, and if he continues to perform well, the Dodgers may be forced to bring him back to the major leagues.

Who Will Replace Blake Snell in Dodgers Rotation?

For now, the Dodgers appear to be going with left-hander Eric Lauer — whom they acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday — to fill the void in the rotation.

Lauer is expected to be in the bullpen this week against the San Diego Padres before transitioning to the rotation, likely in the next turn.

Across eight appearances (six starts and two long relief outings) for the Blue Jays this year, Lauer had a 6.69 ERA over 36.1 innings of work. Last year, he had a 3.18 ERA over 104.2 innings, and pitched 5.2 scoreless frames in the World Series against the Dodgers.

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