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The Dodgers had no problem toppling one of the best young pitchers in the sport Saturday night.
When it came to their own promising rookie starter, however, the team suffered yet another potential injury blow.
While the Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates and rookie sensation Paul Skenes 4-1 at Dodger Stadium, they lost one of their own burgeoning arms — River Ryan — to a forearm injury in the fifth inning of his fourth career start.
A former two-way player who had blossomed on the mound in the Dodgers farm system, Ryan entered Saturday with a 1.72 ERA in his first three big-league outings. He had blanked the Pirates for the first four innings of Saturday, as well.
But then, with two outs in the fifth inning, Ryan misfired with a slider and immediately began shaking out his pitching arm. After a visit from a trainer, the right-hander was pulled out of the game with what the team described as “right forearm tightness.” While Ryan won’t get an MRI until Sunday, manager Dave Roberts said postgame he was expecting the 25-year-old to go on the injured list.
“Obviously, when you see a guy go on his forearm, it’s always disconcerting,” Roberts said.
Dodgers starting pitcher River Ryan stretches his right throwing arm in the dugout during the top of the fifth inning. He was pulled from the game after suffering a right arm injury against the Pirates Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers (68-49) still prevailed to clinch a series win over the Pirates (56-60), getting three early RBIs from streaking 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, only missing the cycle by a triple).
“I think there’s a little extra adrenaline in there when you’re facing a guy that has that good of stuff,” said Lux, who now has 10 RBIs and a .324 batting average since being bumped up to the top half of the order 12 games ago. “We’re all competitors, so there’s a little something extra there for sure.”
Against every other team in the majors this year, the hard-throwing Skenes has a 1.78 ERA in 13 starts.
In two games against the Dodgers, however, the former No. 1 overall pick has been charged with seven earned runs in just 11 innings (5.73 ERA), representing two of his worst outings all year.
“I just thought we competed,” Roberts said. “Obviously, he’s one of the best arms in the game, and we got him for three at his place, we got him for four tonight.”
The significance of that triumph, however, was deflated by Ryan’s early exit — turning the intriguing 25-year-old talent, who was beginning to look like a possible postseason weapon, into the latest question mark for an already short-handed, injury-plagued pitching staff.
Ryan said he first started feeling tightness in his forearm during the third inning, before it “really started to tighten up on me” on his last two pitches of the fifth.
When Roberts and a trainer came to check on Ryan after his last pitch, the rookie lobbied to stay in the game.
“I wanted to finish,” Ryan said. “But they saw me grimace a little bit on the mound, and they’re not going to take any chances.”
Ryan was also critical of MLB’s pitch clock while discussing his injury, saying it “definitely makes you speed up a lot” and “starts to take a toll” with only 15 seconds between throws.
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Ryan was hopeful about how his arm felt postgame, noting it was “strong” during some tests.
Roberts, however, warned that any extended absence could threaten the rest of Ryan’s season — making him yet the latest serious injury concern for a team that already had nine pitchers on the IL.
“Just kind of with the calendar, I mean, I don’t want to speculate too much, but we’re running out of time,” Roberts said.
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Buehler returns Wednesday
If Ryan does miss any extended time, the Dodgers at least know who can replace him in 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 spot,” 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 one, a 5 ⅓ inning, one-run effort in which he struck out five batters and threw 85 pitches.
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“It still matters to go out there and feel good about your last outing before coming back,” Roberts said. “I honestly think this is as confident, as good as Walker has felt — physically and mentally — this year.”
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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 club’s facility in Arizona next week to continue his rehab.
