{"id":611897,"date":"2026-04-18T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T07:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611897\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T07:00:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T07:00:17","slug":"dodgers-longtime-prospect-ryan-ward-getting-first-mlb-call-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/611897\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ longtime prospect Ryan Ward getting first MLB call-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2013\u2013 After seven years of waiting for his shot, Ryan Ward is on the verge of his first big-league opportunity.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers are bringing Ward to Denver on Saturday and are expected to officially activate him later in this weekend\u2019s series against the Colorado Rockies, sources confirmed, marking what will be a first career call-up to the majors for the 28-year-old outfielder.<\/p>\n

While it wasn\u2019t immediately clear what the corresponding roster move will be, the choreographed nature of Ward\u2019s promotion \u2013\u2013 he will be on the taxi squad Saturday, a source said \u2013\u2013 could suggest a non-injury-related maneuver, such as another player going on the paternity list.<\/p>\n

The Athletic first reported the news of Ward\u2019s call-up<\/a> on Friday. <\/p>\n

\"DodgersDodgers outfielder Ryan Ward, who is getting his first MLB call-up at age 28, hits an RBI double during a spring training game against the A\u2019s on March 8, 2025. Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Ward was originally an eighth-round draft pick in 2019 who has slowly climbed up the Dodgers\u2019 farm system. Last year, he was the Pacific Coast League MVP with triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .290 with 36 home runs and 122 RBIs. <\/p>\n

This season, he was batting .324 in his first 18 triple-A games, adding four more home runs and 14 RBIs to a distinguished minor-league resume.<\/p>\n

Despite those gaudy numbers, Ward has had to wait \u2013\u2013 and wait, and wait \u2013\u2013 for a chance at the MLB level.<\/p>\n

He was added to the club\u2019s 40-man roster at the end of last season, but did not make the big-league team after a poor spring training performance.<\/p>\n

Still, over seven career seasons in the minors, the left-handed hitter has a .266 average, 154 home runs, 139 doubles and 520 RBIs.<\/p>\n

\"DodgersDodgers manager Dave Roberts Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Massachusetts native and Bryant University product has received rave reviews from Dodgers personnel about his growth in recent seasons, specifically with the way he has improved his plate discipline. <\/p>\n

Since the start of last year, he has 95 walks against 141 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

He is a corner outfielder by trade, but can also contribute at first base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing I like about Ryan is he\u2019s performed,\u201d manager Dave Roberts said this spring. \u201cWe\u2019ve asked him to do certain things, whether it\u2019s positional versatility or cutting back on the strikeouts, hit for a little more power. He\u2019s done all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said then he expected Ward to get an opportunity in the majors at some point this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to not get a shot (yet), I\u2019m sure he\u2019s frustrated and understandably so,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cBut the message for him is to keep putting up numbers and knock the door down and hopefully the opportunity comes for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly what Ward has done, ranking seventh in the PCL so far this season in OPS. And now, his long wait is almost up, with a promotion to the majors having finally arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER \u2013\u2013 After seven years of waiting for his shot, Ryan Ward is on the verge of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,487,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-611897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}