Dodgers News: River Ryan Finally Set to Return from Injury

Feb 17, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryan River (77) throws during a Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

He missed all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery, but in 2024, he started four games for the Dodgers, racking up an ERA of 1.33 over 20.1 innings of work. He also had 18 strikeouts, 15 hits allowed and nine walks.

The Dodgers clearly saw the major league-potential in Ryan, and this return to the mound in Albuquerque might be the next step on the way to his return to the majors.

Ryan’s workload is being limited to try to keep him fresh for the second half of the season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

“You look at the history of guys that have had those types of injuries to think he’s going to take down 30 starts is unrealistic,” Roberts said.

Is there room for River Ryan in the Dodgers’ rotation?

Ryan first needs to focus on returning to form in the minors, but there’s been a decent bit of upheaval in the Dodgers’ rotation thus far in 2026, which could give him an opportunity.

Tyler Glasnow is hurt, Blake Snell is just returned from injury, Roki Sasaki is up and down, Emmet Sheehan‘s ERA is up on the year so far and Justin Wrobleski finally had a bad start.

All that’s to say that even with Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the starting rotation, the season is long, and Ryan will likely get a chance to show his stuff at some point this year.

The only question is whether he’ll be ready, and that starts with his minor-league outing on Friday.