River Ryan’s Time Has Come
The kid-glove treatment made sense for a while, but no longer.
After reading Katie Woo’s fine story about River Ryan at the Athletic, and while watching Roki Sasaki struggle to get 18 outs Friday night, I posted this:
This, from Dodger big boss, Andrew Friedman, is sensible thinking: “Especially with our young pitchers, as much patience as we can exercise when they’re coming back from a major surgery, the better.” Certainly.
“The level of intensity is different at the major league level than it is in the minor leagues.”
Sure. And the level of intensity starting a midweek June game against the middling Twins in Minnesota is different from yet another start in the Pacific Coast League. But it’s a pretty soft landing, and the perfect opportunity for Ryan to return to the big leagues. Twenty-two months after Tommy John surgery.
I’m not suggesting that Ryan be given the ball at Target Field Tuesday on five day’s rest, or Wednesday on six, and take every turn thereafter. Not necessarily. But every game counts in the standings, the current need is clear and the 27-year-old right-hander is one of L.A.’s best six starters. Right now, today.
I’m not concerned about the eight earned runs in 4 1/3 innings allowed by Ryan in his most recent start Wednesday. Or about the 4.46 ERA because of that one outing. If anything, he may benefit from getting a clunker out of his system. He allowed one run or zero in four of his other five starts after returning from a hamstring May 15, he’s pitched six innings twice while striking out 10.7 batters per nine and he’s throwing 100 mph consistently.
Emmet Sheehan, with his 7.31 June ERA, and 5.32 season ERA, would be the odd man out. Let’s remember that Sheehan, a 2024 Tommy John surgery patient himself, has made a career-high 14 starts already this year. His velocity has been down from previous seasons and it’s likely occurred to management that a break from pitching in a major league rotation could do him some good. And if Friedman is concerned about having Ryan available for October, as evidenced in the linked story above, he ought to be thinking the same about Sheehan.
The Dodgers could option Sheehan to Triple-A Oklahoma City with orders to limit his workload, they could option him to OKC with a stop at the club’s Camelback Ranch facility for rest and rehabilitation, or place him on the IL and shut him down. He’d be lost to club for a minimum of 15 days unless he were recalled to replace another injured pitcher.
Ryan replacing Sheehan in the rotation, beginning next week at least for a turn, makes good sense.
Moving on.
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The Boys in Blue swept an excellent Rays team with three straight one-run victories to begin the week and the homestand, won another one-run game versus the Orioles Friday, and dropped the next two to end it.
Encouraging trends from the week include the continuation of a genuine rebound at the plate by Mookie Betts (.333 in his last seven games, .300 in his last 12) and a solid week’s work from firemen Kyle Hurt (no runs, .100 opponents’ average), Edgardo Henriquez (no runs, .100 opponents’ average), Alex Vesia (no runs, no hits) and Tanner Scott (no runs, no hits).
Southward trends include Jack Dreyer’s relief pitching (8.00 ERA since coming off the IL June 1 without a rehab), Andy Pages (.192 his last 12 games, .240 in the number two spot) and Kyle Tucker, who is reminding the faithful of Michael Conforto more and more with each passing day. It can’t be lost on the club that Tucker is an essentially normal player on the road this season (.277/.370/.445) and complete mess at home (.197/.298/.311 prior to the 0-4 Sunday).
Dodgers brass, and the reasonable among us, will take a 4-2 week all things considered, especially given that at 49-29, the team increased its National League West lead from seven games to nine. The boys will play three at Minneapolis Monday through Wednesday and enjoy an open date Thursday before heading back to California for stops at San Diego and West Sacramento.
Probables are called probables for a reason, and while Mr. Ryan may get a start at Minnesota, I can’t give you the probability of that as of this writing. As it stands now, the scheduled matchups are as follows: Eric Lauer vs. Zebby Matthews Monday at 4:40 p.m., Justin Wrobleski vs. Joe Ryan Tuesday at 4:40 p.m. and Shohei Ohtani vs. Connor Prielipp Wednesday at 4:40 p.m.
Keep on eye on Joe Ryan, who could be pitching alongside River Ryan (no relation) in the Dodgers rotation this fall. You heard it here first.
Odds and ends:
Tommy Edman made his 2026 debut Wednesday following offseason ankle surgery and went 5-13 (.385) during the week. Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment to make room for the switch-hitting second baseman on the 40-man roster, and subsequently opted for free agency.
Will Smith was not activated from the injured list when he was eligible to return Friday after the minimum 10-days absence with a stiff neck. Skipper Dave Roberts said his catcher had “a scan recently,” which he termed “sort of, fine, nothing really bad,” may get “some type of, ya know, shot” (presumably something other than bleach), and “it’s gonna take more time.” Translating from the Dodgers English? We’ll see him at some point in the second half.
Edwin Diaz (elbow) threw a bullpen Friday, hitting 91-93 mph with his fastball, which Mr. Roberts suggested was “really good.” Ninety-six, 97 is really good, but whatever.
Brock Stewart (bone spur), acquired last summer from the Twins in the James Outman trade, may be activated in time for his return to Minnesota Monday. I’m a little concerned because the right-hander’s entire rehab was with Single-Ontario rather than Triple-A Oklahoma City, but it’s a small point.
Evan Phillips (Tommy John surgery) could be ready by early July.
Blake Snell threw his first bullpen (to an unnamed standing catcher) Saturday.
Teoscar Hernandez (hamstring) looks great and is set to begin his rehab with the OKC Comets at Reno Tuesday.
L.A. starter and resident head case, Tyler Glasnow, is frustrated with the back pain which has had him on the shelf since May 6. Says it sucks.
Blake Treinen was placed on the 15-day IL with elbow inflammation Saturday and replaced by right-hander Chayce McDermott, who allowed two earned in 1 1/3 Sunday.
Former Dodger Dustin May, who has been transformed as a member of the NL’s surprise Cardinals team, pitched a one-hit shutout vs. the Padres at St. Louis Monday. It was the first complete game and first shutout of his career. He’s working on one-year $12 million contract with an $20 million option for 2027 with a $500,000 buyout. You might say he’s boosted his free agent stock.
Rather than have you wait for the next Minor League Report, here is a mini Double-A Tulsa Drillers Report instead. Outfielder Josue De Paula, 21, is hitting .321/.421/.557 with 13 home runs and 60 RBIs, and all comparisons to Washington’s James Wood are on the table. It would be a mistake to include the young man in a trade for Detroit’s Tarik Skubal. In fact, I think L.A. should resist the temptation and allow another club to outbid them. While I’ve mentioned Joe Ryan, more on Dodgers trade targets next month.
Mike Sirota’s on base streak has reached 59 games. The 23-year-old center fielder, acquired from Cincinnati last year for Gavin Lux, hit .325/.478/.602 at Great Lakes to begin the year, earned an early promotion to Double-A and is hitting .327/.478/.510 for the Drillers.
Congrats to the happy family!
Book launch coming this summer!
Tweet of the Week:
Who goofed?
Uh, that would be me.
Media Savvy:
Ignore the misleading headline and read this fun story about Jerry Koosman by Brad Balukjian, author of “The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball,” at the Athletic.
Here is “‘Return of the Clowns’ Review: The Savannah Bananas’ Forefathers on ESPN,” by John Anderson at the Wall Street Journal.”
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez makes an appearance in this space with his latest, “There might be one advantage to climate change: More home runs at Dodger Stadium.”
And three from baseball historian Bill Arnold:
1. Shohei Ohtani has proved to be somewhat mortal when facing the Rays' Nick Martinez. On Monday, the Dodgers' DH went hitless in his three at-bats against the lefty, maintaining his career batting average against Martinez at .000 (0-for-12) in 13 plate appearances. Rays PR whiz Jared Tennant notes that the Japanese superstar has that much in common with five lesser active MLB lights who in 10 or more career PAs have failed to get in a knock versus the veteran: Eric Sogard (14 PAs, 0-for-11), Jose Rojas (13 PAs, 0-for-12), Logan Morrison (13 PAs, 0-for-11), Jake Marisnick (10 PAs, 0-for-10), and Chris Carter (10 PAs, 0-for-9).
2. The Braves really like pitcher Carlos Carrasco — they just need to decide when they like him. So far this season, the team has signed and then designated him for assignment 11 times. The latest ink: On Tuesday, June 16, the team signed the 38-year-old right-hander to a Triple-A contract, after granting him free agency the previous Friday, June 1.
3. Colt Keith on Monday became the second-youngest Tiger player to hit three home runs in a game when he cleared the Houston fences in the third, seventh, and ninth innings, racking up six ribbies in Detroit's 9-3 rout of the Astros. The youngest, Hall of Famer Al Kaline, was 20 years and 119 days old when he homered three times against the A's on April 17, 1955; Keith was 24 years and 305 days old when he tapped his trifecta. (The oldest Tiger to poke a trio in a game was Ty Cobb, at 38 years and 38 days old, batting against the Browns in 1925.
Baseball Photos of the Week:
“This image shows legendary comedians Buster Keaton and Jack Oakie posing with a trophy at a charity baseball game held to raise money for the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.”
“This image shows the April 17, 1948, issue of The Saturday Evening Post featuring the artwork "More Clothes to Clean" by George Hughes.”
Rusty Staub, Bowie Kuhn and Mark Fidrych.
Eddie Mathews and Roy Campanella.
“The Dugout (Bottom of the Ninth) is a 1948 oil painting by American artist Norman Rockwell, painted to create the September 4, 1948, cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine.”
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter/X here. Read OBHC online here