River Ryan

River Jason Ryan (born August 17, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ryan was selected in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres and made his MLB debut in 2024 with the Dodgers.

Career Amateur career Ryan attended North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, North Carolina. He enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and played college baseball for the UNC Pembroke Braves for four seasons as a two-way player.

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres selected Ryan in the 11th round, with the 340th overall pick, of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft. After signing with the team he was assigned to the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Padres, where he played in 12 games as a position player and slashed .308/.349/.436. The Dodgers had him focus solely on pitching. Ryan split the 2022 season between the Low-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the High-A Great Lakes Loons and went 2–4 with a 2.45 ERA and 70 strikeouts in innings pitched. In 2023 he began with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers and was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, pitching in a combined 26 games for a 1–7 record, 4.40 ERA and 110 strikeouts in innings. Ryan pitched innings in his debut, allowing only one unearned run while striking out two batters (Tyler Fitzgerald was the first). On July 28, Ryan picked up his first major league win against the Houston Astros. He made four starts for the Dodgers, allowing three earned runs in innings with 18 strikeouts. He left a game on August 10 with an elbow injury, later diagnosed as a UCL strain, which shut him down for the rest of the season. On August 12, it was announced that Ryan would require Tommy John surgery, ruling him out for the 2025 season as well.

Following the 2025 campaign, it was reported that Ryan gained 30 pounds of muscle during his recovery, going from 195 pounds to 225 at the height of 6'1. Ryan was optioned to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets to begin the 2026 season. He was limited to just eight starts with the Comets as a result of being shut down twice with hamstring injuries; across innings pitched c he logged a 3–1 record and 4.46 ERA with 43 strikeouts.

Personal life Ryan's older brother, Ryder, is also a baseball player, who is currently a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization.