Express reliever Ryder Ryan headed to Tokyo Olympics with USA Baseball
Photo Credit: Zach Smith
Ryder Ryan is ready to rub elbows with the likes of Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky.
The 26-year-old will take a break from his duties as a reliever for the Round Rock Express to represent the United States baseball team at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo beginning later this month.
“It’s so surreal,” Ryan said. “There are only 24 guys on the roster, and they picked me as one of the guys to go out and compete for the gold. It’s just awesome.”
Ryan (1-4, 6.75 ERA) has appeared in 20 games for the Express this season, striking out 26 batters in 21.1 innings with a pair of saves.
"What an opportunity,” Round Rock manager Kenny Holmberg said. “ It’s really cool for the organization to have a representative in the sport of baseball. It’s really cool for him and his family. He’s got big-time stuff, he can run a fastball up there 95-plus and he continues to develop his secondary slider as a put-away pitch.
Ryan will play in three warmup games with Team USA from July 18-20 prior to leaving for Tokyo.
Team USA takes on Israel on July 30 and faces Korea on July 31 in pool play to determine seeings for the knockout tournament beginning Aug. 1. The gold medal game is on Aug. 7
Team USA is made up of minor-league professionals and a few veterans currently not on an MLB roster. Fourteen of the 24 players have played in the big leagues with two World Series Champions: Edwin Jackson and David Robinson.
Pitchers Anthony Carter and Nick Martinez, and infielder Patrick Kivlehan are other Express alumni on the Tokyo Olympics roster for Team USA.
Ryan was named as the player to be named later in a trade that sent Todd Frazier from the Rangers to the New York Mets last year. Now, they’re both Team USA teammates.
“It’s a dream for me to put on a USA jersey and represent our country while leading a group of guys that have a specific goal to win an Olympic gold medal,” Team USA manager Mike Scioscia said.
Ryan tried out for Team USA in high school but didn’t make the team — his only interaction with the national team before getting a phone call when Round Rock was in El Paso late last month.
Olympic organizers announced last week that no fans would be allowed at events in Tokyo after Japan declared a state of emergency after a boost in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Ryan isn’t letting that dampen his excitement.
“You’ve just got to go out there with a good mentality and focus,” Ryan said. “You can’t really pay attention to it. It’s fun going out there with all the adrenaline when you pitch with the fans, but this is going to be different.”
Ryan grew up in a baseball family in North Carolina. He played third base at the University of North Carolina but switched to pitching full time after being drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 30th round in 2016.
He was an All-Star at the Single-A level in 2017 and 2018. This is his first season at the Triple-A level, and Holmberg said Texas would like to see him in high leverage and late-game situations.
“There is not a higher leverage situation than going to the Olympics,” Holmberg said. “He’ll come back a better person and a better player, and we’ll continue his growth.”
Ryan is an Olympian, and it’s just starting to sink in.
“It’s still crazy to this day,” Ryan said.
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Originally published at https://www.hillcountrynews.com/stories/express-reliever-ryder-ryan-headed-to-tokyo-olympics-with-usa-baseball,87609