The Dodgers had little trouble defeating one of baseball’s top young pitchers on Saturday night. However, they faced a setback with their own promising rookie starter, suffering another potential injury blow.
While the Dodgers secured a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates and their star rookie Paul Skenes at Dodger Stadium, they lost one of their rising talents — River Ryan — to a forearm injury in the fifth inning of his fourth career start. A former two-way player who had thrived as a pitcher in the Dodgers’ farm system, Ryan entered Saturday with an impressive 1.72 ERA in his first three major league appearances. He had shut out the Pirates through the first four innings of the game as well.
But with two outs in the fifth inning, Ryan threw a slider that went awry, immediately shaking out his pitching arm. After a visit from the trainer, the right-hander was pulled from the game with what the team described as “right forearm tightness.” Although Ryan won’t undergo an MRI until Sunday, manager Dave Roberts indicated postgame that the 25-year-old is likely headed to the injured list.
“Obviously, when you see a guy grab his forearm, it’s always concerning,” Roberts said. The Dodgers (68-49) still managed to clinch a series win over the Pirates (56-60), aided by three early RBIs from the in-form second baseman Gavin Lux (an RBI double in the first; a two-run single in the third) and a towering solo home run in the fifth from Teoscar Hernández (who had three hits Saturday, falling just short of the cycle with only a triple missing). “I think there’s a little extra adrenaline when you’re facing a guy with that kind of stuff,” said Lux, who now has 10 RBIs and a .324 batting average since being moved up to the top half of the order 12 games ago. “We’re all competitors, so there’s definitely something extra there.”
Against every other team in the majors this year, the hard-throwing Skenes has maintained a 1.78 ERA in 13 starts.
However, in two games against the Dodgers, the former No. 1 overall pick has been tagged with seven earned runs in just 11 innings (5.73 ERA), making these two games among his worst performances of the year.
“I just thought we competed well,” Roberts said. “Obviously, he’s one of the best arms in the game, and we got to him for three runs at his place, and we got him for four tonight.”
However, the significance of that triumph was overshadowed by Ryan’s early exit — turning the promising 25-year-old, who was emerging as a potential postseason weapon, into the latest question mark for an already short-handed, injury-stricken pitching staff. Ryan mentioned that he first felt tightness in his forearm during the third inning, but it “really started to tighten up” on his last two pitches of the fifth. When Roberts and a trainer came to check on him after his last pitch, the rookie lobbied to stay in the game.
“I wanted to finish,” Ryan said. “But they saw me grimace a bit on the mound, and they’re not going to take any risks.”
Ryan also criticized MLB’s pitch clock, saying it “definitely makes you speed up a lot” and “starts to take a toll” with only 15 seconds between pitches. Despite some postgame optimism about his arm feeling “strong” during tests, Roberts warned that any extended absence could jeopardize the rest of Ryan’s season — making him yet another injury concern for a team already dealing with nine pitchers on the IL. “With the way the calendar is, I don’t want to speculate too much, but we’re running out of time,” Roberts said.
Buehler Returns Wednesday
If Ryan is out for an extended period, the Dodgers have a replacement ready for the rotation. According to Roberts, Walker Buehler has completed his minor-league rehab assignment and will likely start on Wednesday in Milwaukee.
“He’s in a good place,” Roberts said. “I think physically he feels great.”
In his return from a second career Tommy John surgery this year, Buehler struggled in eight starts (1-4 record, 5.84 ERA) before going on the injured list in mid-June with a hip injury.
After spending time at a private facility in Florida, Buehler began a three-outing rehab assignment with triple-A Oklahoma City last month. His most recent start was his best, a 5⅓ inning, one-run performance with five strikeouts and 85 pitches thrown. “It still matters to go out there and feel good about your last outing before coming back,” Roberts said. “I honestly think this is the most confident, the best Walker has felt — physically and mentally — this year.”
Short Hops
If Ryan goes on the IL, Landon Knack will join the Dodgers on Sunday and pitch out of the bullpen. … Reliever Ryan Brasier (calf) is expected to rejoin the Dodgers next week in St. Louis, Roberts said. … Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder) will also travel on this week’s trip to throw a bullpen session in Milwaukee on Tuesday, and a simulated game in St. Louis next weekend. … Chris Taylor (groin) has been taking live at-bats in simulated games this weekend and is scheduled to go to the team’s facility in Arizona next week to continue his rehab.