The Dodgers have River Ryan returning from 2024 Tommy John surgery, and is expected to be part of the team’s starting rotation puzzle in the 2026 season. There’s also at least a chance that he might be teammates with his brother Ryder Ryan, who was signed by the Dodgers to a minor league deal that includes a non-roster invitation to spring training.
If River and Ryder play together with the Dodgers, they’d join a select group of brothers in franchise history.
Ramón Martínez pitched the first 11 seasons of his 14-year career with the Dodgers (1988-1998), finished second in Cy Young Award voting one year and fifth in another. He pitched a no-hitter in 1995, and struck out 18 in a game in 1990 to match the franchise record.
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We obviously know what Pedro Martínez went on to do in his Hall of Fame career, winning three Cy Young Awards after getting discarded by the Dodgers at age 22, but his one full season in Los Angeles was quite effective. The younger Martínez posted a 2.61 ERA in 65 games, and his 113 strikeouts out of the bullpen was at the time second-most in a season by a Dodgers reliever, trailing only Mike Marshall in his 108-appearance, 206-inning Cy Young campaign in 1974.
Pedro made his major league debut in September 1992, but by then Ramón’s season had already ended with a sore elbow.
Ramón Martínez in 1993 put up a 3.44 ERA in 32 starts and 211 2/3 innings, the third of his four seasons with at least 200 innings. Ramón and Pedro pitched in the same game 12 times that season, with the best one likely on July 31 at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. Ramon allowed two runs in eight innings in his start, and the game needed 13 innings to decide. Pedro retired all six batters he faced in the final two innings, and earned the win after the Dodgers exploded for five runs in the top of the 13th.
“I didn’t take the win away from my brother–he was already out,” Pedro Martínez said, per Maryann Hudson at the Los Angeles Times. “I took it away from Chicago, not from him.”
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There was also a third brother, Jesus Martínez, who also pitched in the Dodgers minor leagues from 1992-97. He reached Triple-A, but never made the majors.
Larry Sherry was the World Series MVP in 1959, pitching in all four Dodgers wins in the series in their second year in Los Angeles. He won two games and closed out the other two (10 years before saves became an official statistic). His older brother Norm, who like Larry was signed out of Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, did not play in that World Series.
Norm Sherry’s biggest contribution might have been the advice he gave a young, wild Sandy Koufax during spring training in 1961, telling him, “Why don’t you take something off the ball and just put it in there? Don’t try to throw it so hard. Just put it in there and let them hit it.”
The Sherry brothers overlapped for four seasons with the Dodgers (1959-62). They didn’t match up as a battery in 1959, but Norm caught Larry in 30 games from 1960-62, with Larry posting a 2.73 ERA in 52 2/3 innings with his brother behind the plate.
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Norm Sherry hit 16 home runs with the Dodgers, one of them a walk-off winner on May 7, 1960 to beat Rubén Gomez and the Philadelphia Phillies. The winning pitcher was Larry Sherry, who pitched the final four innings.
From Richard Cuicchi at SABR:
After the game, Norm said, “It has to be my biggest thrill. Winning one in the majors for my brother was really something.” He added, “I knew it was hit well enough, but I was afraid it might curve foul. It was a slider inside. I wasn’t looking for anything especially. I was just trying to get a hit.”
Paul and Lloyd Waner are probably the most accomplished brothers to ever play for the Dodgers, though the overwhelming bulk of their careers came with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both outfielders are in the Hall of Fame, with Paul having by far the better career. At the very least, they have two of the best tandem nicknames in baseball history — Big Poison (Paul) and Little Poison (Lloyd).
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Both came to the Dodgers later in their careers, 1941, 1943-44 for Paul, and 1944 for Lloyd. They played in 14 games together for Brooklyn, never both starting in the same game. Lloyd Waner drove in one run in his brief time with the Dodgers, and it came after Paul was intentionally walked to load the bases. In the ninth inning at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on May 3, 1944 against the Boston Braves, Lloyd pinch-hit for shortstop Bill Hart with one out, and laid down a bunt single for the walk-off win.
Steve Sax and Dave Sax were the first set of Dodgers brothers I remember from growing up, but they very rarely played together. Steve was the team’s regular second baseman for seven years, while Dave was a catcher in the organization for seven years (1978-84) who only played in the majors for Los Angeles briefly in 1982-83.
Dave Sax played in nine games for the Dodgers, all of which were also played by his brother Steve. The one time they both started the same game was June 3, 1983 at Dodger Stadium against the New York Mets. Steve led off and Dave batted eighth, but both were 0-for-4 at the plate in a 5-2 loss.
Zack Wheat was one of the Dodgers’ great early stars in Brooklyn, and the outfielder was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1959. Wheat roamed the outfield for Brooklyn in 18 of his 19 seasons, and remains the all-time franchise leader in hits, total bases, doubles, triples, games played, and plate appearances. His brother Mack was a catcher, and played parts of five seasons (1915-19) with the Dodgers, overlapping with Zack.
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The Wheat brothers played in a total of 113 games together with the Dodgers, including 69 games with both starting, the bulk of those coming in 1918-19.
Mack Wheat hit one home run in his 137 total games with the Dodgers, hit at Ebbets Field on August 7, 1918 against the Cubs. It was a three-run shot in the fourth inning off Cubs right-hander Phil Douglas that scored Zack Wheat, who reached base on an error earlier in the frame. Those three runs were all the Dodgers scored in the game, and was enough to secure a 3-2 win.
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