This story was excerpted from Jason Beck’s Tigers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Watch River Ryan work his way through a Triple-A lineup, and he looks like a Major League pitcher on a rehab assignment, even though technically he’s a Top 100 prospect.
He has a six-pitch mix and an idea how to use all of them, working sequences Tuesday night in his second start for Triple-A Toledo. But after a long and winding journey to this point, the 28-year-old right-hander has a simple goal.
“My main focus right now is just being able to walk off the mound healthy and get to my next start healthy,” Ryan said after Tuesday’s outing.
That’s part of his journey. After missing last season recovering from Tommy John surgery following four starts with the Dodgers in 2024, his comeback season this year has been interrupted twice by hamstring injuries. He was in Arizona rehabbing when he got the call that he’d been traded to Detroit in the Tarik Skubal deal.
“It was definitely an awakening,” said Ryan, the Tigers’ No. 3 prospect and No. 65 overall. “I knew going into the Trade Deadline that there was going to be some movement, whether it was me or another guy, so I was just kind of being ready for anything. When I got the call, I wasn’t surprised at all.”
Considering he went straight to the Tigers’ rehab facility in Lakeland, Fla., the trade was a continuation of his recovery process. At the same time, it has been a fresh start. He’s a 28-year-old prospect in part due to injuries, but also because of the Dodgers’ pitching depth. With the Tigers, he now sees a clearer path to the big leagues if he can stay healthy.
COMPLETE TIGERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
“I was on a team that had six, seven starters,” Ryan said. “Regardless of how I did out there, I don’t think it was going to be in the cards for me as far as being a huge impact at the big league level this year with the Dodgers. Those guys have gone out there and done well, so I was kind of stuck in Triple-A, just kind of discouraged. Kind of didn’t matter if I went out there and threw 100 pitches and did amazing or not.
“I genuinely think that this trade to the Tigers is going to be really good for my career. I think it’s going to be plenty more opportunity.”
Even with a limited pitch count Tuesday, it’s easy to see the talent that drew the Tigers’ interest, starting with a 98 mph fastball with more than 2500 rpm of spin. But it’s also a unique combination of potential and maturity for a pitcher who is just 21 months younger than the back-to-back Cy Young winner for which he was traded.
Ryan, like current Tiger Jackson Jobe, is still getting the feel for some of his pitches again. His slider was inconsistent Tuesday, sometimes registering as a curveball on Statcast. After cruising through a seven-pitch, six-strike opening inning, he needed 19 pitches in the second, hanging a slider that Michael Chavis crushed 416 feet to left-center for a solo homer. He got one of his two strikeouts on a curveball that was meant for the bottom of the strike zone but clipped the top edge.
Still, Ryan had moments where raw ability and pitching savvy meshed. He avoided further damage in the second inning by getting a double play from Will Benson, speeding up his bat with fastballs to get him to hit a breaking ball into the ground. His changeup seemed to dive out of the zone, drawing three whiffs in as many swings on just four such pitches.
“I think it’s a pitch that I can definitely start throwing more,” Ryan said. “I feel like I have a really good feel for what that pitch is going to do.”
Ryan threw 39 pitches (27 strikes) over 2 2/3 innings, a step up from the 23 pitches he threw last week. His average fastball velocity of 97.4 mph is a tick up from his season average, as well as his pre-surgery velocity from 2024, while his spin rate is up about 100 rpm.
“Coming off this hamstring injury, I feel like my body’s in a really good spot right now,” Ryan said. “Now it’s just trusting that and looking to focus back on pitches. I can actually go out there next time and focus on being a pitcher.”
The pitch count is a late-season buildup that could feasibly end with him pitching in Detroit. But it’s also a building block for 2027, when a healthy Ryan has a chance to take his spot alongside Jobe and Troy Melton in a talented young Tigers rotation.
“That’s obviously on my mind, to get back to the big league level,” Ryan said. “I don’t think it’s whether I’m going to be able to go out there and perform. I think it’s whether I can go up there and be healthy, be available. That’s what I’m mainly working towards right now. I think this is a really good outing as far as walking off that mound feeling really good.”