River Ryan’s second start in the Tigers organization was a little rockier than his first.
The Tigers’ top pitching prospect and No. 3 overall since being acquired in the Tarik Skubal trade, Ryan extended his pitch count to 39 (27 strikes), but also allowed two runs and plenty of hard contact over 2 2/3 innings with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens on Tuesday.
Ryan’s taken an atypical development arc, converting from a two-way player to solely pitching with the Dodgers in 2022. He achieved his No. 65 rank on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 thanks to outlier stuff and is now using it to make a push back to the big leagues as he recovers from a hamstring injury.
“We’re going to extend him a little bit, hopefully to a longer outing than we did before,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game. “And we’re just looking for him to continue to take a step forward using his pitches.”
Those pitches were a mixed bag, and the Louisville Bats' lineup got to them. Ryan’s four-seam fastball averaged 97.4 mph, up a tick from his average this season, and he got whiffs on all three changeups he threw for strikes. But he missed badly with his slider and only threw it six times, even though it’s usually his second-most-used offering.
Ryan allowed back-to-back singles on pitches on the edge to start the outing, but recovered by striking out former White Sox outfielder Dominic Fletcher and inducing a double play with a first-pitch sinker to Noelvi Marte.
Another former Major Leaguer, Michael Chavis, took Ryan deep to lead off the second on a slider that hung up in the zone. But the 28-year-old right-hander settled down again with another strikeout — maxing out on a 98.7 mph fastball — and a double play. He was removed after allowing a hard-hit RBI double on another hanging slider in the third.
COMPLETE TIGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
“If that [start] goes well, then he's certainly a consideration to get an outing or two up in the big leagues,” Hinch said. “We've stopped short of guaranteeing that because we just want him to continue to take steps forward with his health.”
Ryan got off to a strong start in the Tigers' organization with two innings of scoreless ball in his Mudhens debut. Now, after his uneven second outing, the Tigers will need to decide soon if he’s going to see the Majors this season.