The game of baseball is a journey that has lots of twists and turns and knowing which way to go isn’t always an easy decision. Having a village of people that can help navigate each turn is very helpful, and for River Ryan, a talented and top pitching prospect in the Dodgers organization, it’s helped lead him towards a destination he’s soon to reach, destination L.A.

Great Baseball Family

Ryan is a top rated pitching prospect because he is super talented, let’s make no mistake about that, but he is so much more than that. He’s grounded, very respectful of the challenges this game presents, and he knows that ups and downs are just a part of the process. He learned it all honestly through personal  experience and in a family full of baseball success that reaches as far as the eye can see. 

He played for his dad and with his brother in High School, both of whom played professional baseball, and he also has an uncle and great uncle that played professionally as well.

His brother Ryder is still in AAA with Tacoma, so he has every resource he could need, and he uses them, and is very thankful to have them. 

His family is his rock and he is not shy to give them, all of them, tremendous credit for his success.

Having a lot of professional baseball players in the house gets competitive at times, but it’s a lot of fun talking baseball with your father whose played, especially on the hitting side when I was with the Padres. 

Ryan went on to add

I talk to my uncle quite a bit, but it’s mainly my brother. If you had a support system like I had growing up, pretty much anything is possible.

When asked to talk about his brother, this is what Ryan had to say

Oh man, I’ve looked up to my brother my whole life man. He’s been playing pro ball for a while now and he signed with the Mariners and he’s doing well. 

UNC Pembroke

Ryan was a great player at North Mecklenburg High, where, again, he got to play for his dad, and with his brother. His brother Ryder went to powerhouse UNC, and he was on a similar path until he suffered a pretty scary setback, a fractured spine, which kept him out for an entire year.

For many a fractured spine might be the end of a playing career, and rightfully so, but for Ryan, it was just a detour.

The time off due to his fractured spine left him with offers from just a couple of schools and UNC Pembroke, a nearby DII school, luckily, was one of them. Ryan snatched up the opportunity to be a Brave and set afoot to blaze a trail as one of the best 2-way players in College baseball.

And, that’s exactly what he did, and it didn’t take him long to do it.

As a Freshman he started in 36 games and was one of the best young two way players in the country. He eventually went on to spend 4 years as a Brave posting a career .349 batting average, a slugging percentage of .509 and an on base percentage of .417. On the mound he posted a career ERA of 2.32 and had 114 strikeouts in 93 innings, so he finished his college career as it started, as one of the best two way players in the country. 

On to Pro Ball

Ryan was drafted in the 11th round of the 2021 draft by the Padres and spent his short season playing rookie ball in the ACL where he didn’t pitch at all, but did log 39 at bats and hit .308. He had shown that he could hit at the professional level and was quickly becoming a hot prospect. 

But, that’s when the business world of baseball stepped in and changed his course.

Over the off-season he was traded to the Dodgers for Matt Beaty, and transitioned to a pitcher only. Ryan misses hitting and playing a position, but he has quickly risen in the ranks of pitching prospects and is on pace to be in the MLB sooner rather than later.

The Padres wanted me on both sides, and that was fun, but when I got traded to the Dodgers they told me that I would just be pitching and not hit anymore. So that’s what I’ve been doing, and I am super focused on trying to make it to the the Major Leagues. 

On To The Dodgers

Ryan spent 2022 split between Rancho and Great Lakes and posted an ERA of just 1.93 with the Loons, an average against of just .176 and had 70 Ks in 47.2 innings in total for the year. He was then promoted to AA Tulsa at the beginning of this year, 2023, where he has posted an ERA of 2.85, an average against of .186, with 63 Ks in 60 innings. 

Feature Cut

Ryan has a 4 pitch mix featuring a 4 Seam fastball, a circle change, a slider and a curveball. The prospect feature below takes you through all of his pitches, how he uses them and breaks down his entire arsenal. To check that out, click here or click on the picture below.

4 Seam Fastball

His fastball has reached as high as 99 and he loves to ride it at the top of the zone to get above the swings of modern day hitters that lift. Click here, or on the picture to the left to watch how his fastball plays at the top of the zone.

Statcast data is kept at the AA level, but is not made available to the public, so the best way to identify how much spin a pitcher is getting on their 4 seam is to see how that pitch carries at the bottom of the zone. Ryan’s 4 Seam plays very well low in the zone, which suggests that the spin rate on his 4 seam is very good. Click here or on the picture to the right to watch him carry the bottom of the zone with his 4 Seam. 

Ryan is also very good at locating his 4 seam to what the Dodgers call the 4 slot, which is the arm side corner and preferably low. This pitch rides in underneath the swing of lefties and is low and away to righties, so it is a very important part of a successful fastball sequence. To watch Ryan locate his 4 Seam to the 4 slot click here or on the picture to the left. 

Slider

The Dodgers love to have their pitchers throw a slider for a multitude of reasons. For one, it tunnels very well off of the fastball and it also can take different shapes based on the count, the batter and the situation. When Ryan needs to throw the pitch for a strike he can make it smaller and more “cutterish” to get tighter spin, but less movement, which allows him to control the pitch with less likelihood of it getting ambushed. Click to watch what I call his “get me over” slider, which is smaller, and meant to be a high strike efficiency pitch. 

When Ryan is ahead in the count and is needing “swing and miss” he can add depth to his slider and make it a bigger pitch. It acts very similar to a curveball, but with tighter spin and usually more of an outside location after the pitch turns left. To watch his bigger “swing and miss” slider, click here or on the picture to the left. 

Ryan is also very good at throwing his slider to lefties as well and getting underneath their swings. When he throws this pitch you’ll see a lot of left handed hitters foul it off their foot, or just simply have very uncomfortable swings due to the tight spin, late break and the depth of the pitch that is buzzing in on their hands. To see how Ryan uses his slider to lefties click here or on the picture to the right. 

Changeup

The Dodgers also love for their pitchers to throw a changeup because it looks so much like the fastball out of the hand, it’s hard for the hitter to identify. In fact, when trying to find changeups on Ryan’s videos, without a radar gun, it was virtually impossible to detect until the pitch started tumbling, which, by that time, is too late for a hitter to make an adjustment. The 4 seam rides and gives a rising effect, and the changeup drops and gives the tumbling effect, all with the same arm speed & motion of the fastball. To see Ryan’s changeup click here or on the picture to the left. 

Curveball

Not every power pitcher, like Ryan, in the system has a curveball, mainly because they can just add depth to their slider to get a similar effect. But, Ryan likes to flip a curveball every now and then as another secondary pitch to give the hitter something else to look at. It also makes his sequences harder for the hitter to sit on certain pitches and ambush them, because he doesn’t always have to throw his fastball when he needs a strike. He can also make the pitch look like a strike, but then tumble it into the dirt for swing and miss. To see how he uses his curveball to land strikes, click here or on the picture on the right. 

Destination L.A.

Ryan thinks like a big leaguer, he acts like a big leaguer, he pitches like a big leaguer and, sooner rather than later, he is going to be a big leaguer. He has great stuff, athletic ability of a middle infielder, and an overall skill set that is going to play, and very well, at the MLB level. 

He is a typical Dodger in the sense that he has big talent, supreme confidence, but yet is super humble and gracious to all those around him. And, he also has an elite work process that goes into his preparation and all of his off the field activities. 

I want to give a big thanks to River for spending time on Dodgers Daily and letting us get to know him a little better. It was a pleasure getting to speak with him and Dodgers Daily will be rooting for him all along the way, all the way to L.A.

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