River Ryan (7-27-24)

River talks about making the transition from two-way player to strictly a starting pitcher and the importance of having his family in attendance for his Major League debut.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
It's the Dodgers and Astros getting setfor Game two of this three game series,
and tomorrow River Ryan will be makinga second major league start deep in
the heart of Texas. River thanksa lot for the time. Appreciated.
Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate it very much. It's
kind of fitting that you'll be makingyour second major league start here in Houston
because the guy by the name ofNolan Ryan had a lot of no hitters

(00:22):
in this for this organization. Yeah, you sure did. Yeah, that
was really awesome. Is there anyconnection as far as you knowing the history
of the game and knowing some ofthese guys that came before you. I
mean, there's definitely no correlation betweenme and Nolan Ryan. We're not related
in any any means. But yeah, watching watching Nolan Ryan, a lot

(00:43):
of videos of him when he wasplaying. It's pretty special man, electric
stuff for sure. I know alot of the young guys talk about they
love playing the game, but theynever really watched it growing up. Did
you watch a lot of baseball growingup? No. The only time I
really ever watched sports is when itmeans something so like playoff or I mean
All Star Game, Home run Derbyis pretty cool to watch, but I
definitely like watching them. Watching playersplay when the pressure's on, you learn

(01:07):
a lot. I keep reminding peoplethat you were not just a pitcher when
you got drafted by the Padres.You were two way players. So what
inspired you to chase your dream ofplaying baseball? Well, the dream has
always been to be a major leagueposition player. But when I got traded
the Dodgers in twenty two they Iwent into the office and asked them.

(01:30):
I was like, Hey, so, are we gonna still do the hitting
thing or are we just pitching?And they just said, You're just gonna
pitch, And I was like,all right, yes, sir. That
made things a little bit more easierto focus and to grow as a pitcher.
To be able to make your majorleague debut last week. Yeah.
Absolutely. When you are able tojust focus on one thing, I think
you can you can develop a lotof aspects in your game. I've definitely

(01:53):
over the past two years, learneda lot on the pitching side, developed
the arsenal quite a bit, addeda couple pitches. So yeah, and
I last saw you, I toldyou we hadn't seen each other since spring
training camp broke and during camp youdid not really pitch a lot. So
how did you get your season jumpstarted and be able to have this opportunity.

(02:15):
Yeah. Now, I just dida lot of rehab in spring training
for the shoulder, because the yearbefore I almost I was nearing tripling my
amount of innings I through the yearbefore, so that was pretty taxing,
especially just becoming a was my secondyear just pitching my entire life, so
that was a lot. But yeah, I took some rest in the off
season, did some rehab in theoff season all the way through spring training

(02:38):
and extended and then some So Ithink we're in a really, really good
spot. Did you feel like youwere starting to hit your stride before you
got called up? Yeah, IMean it wasn't never really the question of
well the stuff play. It wasbeing able to throw strikes and attack guys
efficiently. Just getting strike one isthe biggest thing I can do, as

(03:00):
if you fall behind you, you'regonna give him a chance to do some
damage against you, and that's definitelynot something you want to do. So
getting strike one is huge. Didyou learn something as far as the way
you use your secondary pitches? Thesequence scene in your first start against the
Giants. Yeah, I'm still definitelyin the process of learning what pitches to
throw in what situations, but Ikind of have a pretty solid idea of

(03:22):
what I want to do against righthanders and what I want to do against
left handers. So yeah, I'mjust gonna, like I said, try
to get strike one and then gofrom there. River Ryan is our guest.
He made his major League debut atDodger Stadium, And while I was
doing Dodger Talk, I saw yourwhole family out on the mound. You
had a lot of people at DodgerStadium. What was it like after the

(03:42):
game and just being with them andsharing that moment. Man, it was
a true blessing to have them allbe able to make it out for my
debut. That was very special.I'm praise the Lord that they were all
able to make it, especially withwhat was going on with airports. Some
of the family was stuck in theairport for twelve hours thinking they might not
make it, but fortunately a lotof them were able to make it out.

(04:03):
And yeah, we just we justhung out after the games, kind
of talked about the outing, howblessed we are to be able to be
in this situation. But yeah,it was very, very fun. I
could tell. Family means a lotto you. Absolutely, Yeah, families
everything they've they've been there supporting mesince i've been you know, just a
little chap. So to have themstill be in my corner at twenty five

(04:24):
years of age is very special.That's awesome, River, Ryan, Before
I let you go, since yourroots are as a hitter, any itch
to go into the batting cage atany point in time during the season,
it takes some hacks with the boys. Oh I think about hitting all the
time. I wish I could stillhit, but like I said, it
got taken out of my hands andwe're just focusing on the pitching side and
it's got me here. So butI do still take some ground balls at

(04:46):
shortstop as part of the routine leadingup into starts. You know, say
athletic because I've been in a positionplayer in my whole life. Quick twitch
muscles, got to keep them,you know, in motion. Definitely helps
me on the mound, clean upmy arm action. Throwing some balls from
the hole at shortstop. It helpsme get behind the ball better on the
mountain. So yeah, I loveit. Maybe Dave Roberts if he needs

(05:08):
a bunter and in a safety squeezesituation, River Ryan's available. Yeah,
I'm always ready. I'm always ready. When my name is called, I
will be ready. Okay. Thanksa lot for the time, and it's
great to see your trajectory from whereyou were in spring training to making your
major league debut and just never lookingback moving forward. Thanks a lot for
the time. Yeah, thank youvery much. I appreciate it.