LOS ANGELES —Arguably the most exciting young arm in the Dodgers system has yet to see big-league action this season.Down in Triple A, right-hander River Ryan continues to excite team personnel as he works his way back from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2024. He’s been sidelined with minor health issues throughout the year, but has impressed the organization on pure stuff alone.With Blake Snell just starting to ramp up throwing after elbow surgery in May, and Tyler Glasnow still shut down indefinitely with a back issue, this could be a prime window for Ryan to join the Dodgers rotation.So, what’s the holdup?“Especially with our young pitchers, as much patience as we can exercise when they’re coming back from a major surgery, the better,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said to The Athletic this week. “The level of intensity is different at the major league level than it is in the minor leagues.”Luckily for the back-to-back champions, their rotation is still one of the top in the sport, even while missing Snell and Glasnow for most of the season. Heading into play Friday against the Baltimore Orioles, Dodgers starters have the lowest ERA (3.11) and opponent average (.211) in the majors, while pacing the National League in strikeouts (412) and innings pitched (428 1/3).Being paced by Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto certainly helps, but the club’s commitment to a six-man rotation has resulted in immense growth with Roki Sasaki and Justin Wrobleski, and Emmet Sheehan is progressing as well.So the Dodgers can afford to wait. But excitement is growing. The Dodgers believe that Ryan has one of the most tantalizing arms in baseball. The industry thinks so, too. Despite his older age in terms of prospect evaluations (27), Ryan opened the season ranked amongst the top of several publications’ farmhand rankings, including No. 55 overall per The Athletic’s Keith Law.“If (Ryan) were completely healthy, he might be the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball,” Law wrote in February. Ryan’s stock has only continued to rise since, even after missing a month. Law’s updated midseason top-50 rankings released this month had Ryan listed at No. 19.