Speaker 1: It's the Dodgers and Astros getting set for Game two
Speaker 1: of this three game series, and tomorrow River Ryan will
Speaker 1: be making a second major league start deep in the
Speaker 1: heart of Texas. River thanks a lot for the time. Appreciated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 1: It's kind of fitting that you'll be making your second
Speaker 1: major league start here in Houston because the guy by
Speaker 1: the name of Nolan Ryan had a lot of no
Speaker 1: hitters in this for this organization.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you sure did. Yeah, that was really awesome.
Speaker 1: Is there any connection as far as you knowing the
Speaker 1: history of the game and knowing some of these guys
Speaker 1: that came before you.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's definitely no correlation between me and Nolan Ryan.
Speaker 3: We're not related in any any means. But yeah, watching
Speaker 3: watching Nolan Ryan, a lot of videos of him when
Speaker 3: he was playing. It's pretty special man, electric stuff for sure.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of the young guys talk about
Speaker 1: they love playing the game, but they never really watched
Speaker 1: it growing up. Did you watch a lot of baseball
Speaker 1: growing up?
Speaker 3: No. The only time I really ever watched sports is
Speaker 3: when it means something so like playoff or I mean
Speaker 3: All Star Game, Home run Derby is pretty cool to watch,
Speaker 3: but I definitely like watching them.
Speaker 2: Watching players play when the pressure's on, you learn a lot.
Speaker 1: I keep reminding people that you were not just a
Speaker 1: pitcher when you got drafted by the Padres. You were
Speaker 1: two way players. So what inspired you to chase your
Speaker 1: dream of playing baseball?
Speaker 3: Well, the dream has always been to be a major
Speaker 3: league position player. But when I got traded the Dodgers
Speaker 3: in twenty two they I went into the office and
Speaker 3: asked them. I was like, Hey, so, are we gonna
Speaker 3: still do the hitting thing or are we just pitching?
Speaker 3: And they just said, You're just gonna pitch, And I
Speaker 3: was like, all right, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: That made things a little bit more easier to focus
Speaker 1: and to grow as a pitcher. To be able to
Speaker 1: make your major league debut last week.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3: When you are able to just focus on one thing,
Speaker 3: I think you can you can develop a lot of.
Speaker 2: Aspects in your game.
Speaker 3: I've definitely over the past two years, learned a lot
Speaker 3: on the pitching side, developed the arsenal quite a bit,
Speaker 3: added a couple pitches.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and I last saw you, I told you
Speaker 1: we hadn't seen each other since spring training camp broke
Speaker 1: and during camp you did not really pitch a lot.
Speaker 1: So how did you get your season jump started and
Speaker 1: be able to have this opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Now, I just did a lot of rehab in spring
Speaker 3: training for the shoulder, because the year before I almost
Speaker 3: I was nearing tripling my amount of innings I through
Speaker 3: the year before, so that was pretty taxing, especially just
Speaker 3: becoming a was my second.
Speaker 2: Year just pitching my entire life, so that was a lot.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I took some rest in the off season,
Speaker 3: did some rehab in the off season all the way
Speaker 3: through spring training and extended and then some So I
Speaker 3: think we're in a really, really good spot.
Speaker 1: Did you feel like you were starting to hit your
Speaker 1: stride before you got called up?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I Mean it wasn't never really the question of
Speaker 3: well the stuff play. It was being able to throw
Speaker 3: strikes and attack guys efficiently. Just getting strike one is
Speaker 3: the biggest thing I can do, as if you fall
Speaker 3: behind you, you're gonna give him a chance to do
Speaker 3: some damage against you, and that's definitely not something you
Speaker 3: want to do.
Speaker 2: So getting strike one is huge.
Speaker 1: Did you learn something as far as the way you
Speaker 1: use your secondary pitches? The sequence scene in your first
Speaker 1: start against the Giants.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm still definitely in the process of learning what
Speaker 3: pitches to throw in what situations, but I kind of
Speaker 3: have a pretty solid idea of what I want to
Speaker 3: do against right handers and what I want to do
Speaker 3: against left handers. So yeah, I'm just gonna, like I said,
Speaker 3: try to get strike one and then go from there.
Speaker 1: River Ryan is our guest. He made his major League
Speaker 1: debut at Dodger Stadium, And while I was doing Dodger Talk,
Speaker 1: I saw your whole family out on the mound. You
Speaker 1: had a lot of people at Dodger Stadium. What was
Speaker 1: it like after the game and just being with them
Speaker 1: and sharing that moment.
Speaker 3: Man, it was a true blessing to have them all
Speaker 3: be able to make it out for my debut.
Speaker 2: That was very special.
Speaker 3: I'm praise the Lord that they were all able to
Speaker 3: make it, especially with what was going on with airports.
Speaker 3: Some of the family was stuck in the airport for
Speaker 3: twelve hours thinking they might not make it, but fortunately
Speaker 3: a lot of them were able to make it out.
Speaker 3: And yeah, we just we just hung out after the games,
Speaker 3: kind of talked about the outing, how blessed we are
Speaker 3: to be able to be in this situation.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it was very, very fun.
Speaker 1: I could tell. Family means a lot to you.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, Yeah, families everything they've they've been there supporting me
Speaker 3: since i've been you know, just a little chap. So
Speaker 3: to have them still be in my corner at twenty
Speaker 3: five years of age is very special.
Speaker 1: That's awesome, River, Ryan, Before I let you go, since
Speaker 1: your roots are as a hitter, any itch to go
Speaker 1: into the batting cage at any point in time during
Speaker 1: the season, it takes some hacks with the boys.
Speaker 2: Oh I think about hitting all the time.
Speaker 3: I wish I could still hit, but like I said,
Speaker 3: it got taken out of my hands and we're just
Speaker 3: focusing on the pitching side and it's got me here.
Speaker 3: So but I do still take some ground balls at
Speaker 3: shortstop as part of the routine leading up into starts.
Speaker 3: You know, say athletic because I've been in a position
Speaker 3: player in my whole life. Quick twitch muscles, got to
Speaker 3: keep them, you know, in motion. Definitely helps me on
Speaker 3: the mound, clean up my arm action. Throwing some balls
Speaker 3: from the hole at shortstop. It helps me get behind
Speaker 3: the ball better on the mountain.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1: Maybe Dave Roberts if he needs a bunter and in
Speaker 1: a safety squeeze situation, River Ryan's available.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm always ready. I'm always ready. When my name
Speaker 2: is called, I will be ready. Okay.
Speaker 1: Thanks a lot for the time, and it's great to
Speaker 1: see your trajectory from where you were in spring training
Speaker 1: to making your major league debut and just never looking
Speaker 1: back moving forward. Thanks a lot for the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you very much. I appreciate it.