Ricky Vanasco

Ricky Vanasco (born October 13, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career
Vanasco attended Williston High School in Williston, Florida. In his senior season, he posted a 6–2 record with a 0.53 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 53 innings. Vanasco committed to Stetson University. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 15th round, with the 464th overall selection, of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed with the Rangers for a $200,000 signing bonus.

Texas Rangers
Vanasco made his professional debut in 2017 with the AZL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, going 0–1 with a 0.00 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 9 innings. His season was cut short when on August 31, he was struck in the head by a throw from his catcher Sam Huff. He suffered a concussion and missed the rest of the 2017 season. He returned to the AZL Rangers in 2018, going 3–3 with a 4.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts over $24 2/3$ innings. He was shut down for the rest of the 2018 season on July 24 after developing elbow inflammation that required rehabilitation. Vanasco split the 2019 season between the Spokane Indians of the Low–A Northwest League and the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–A South Atlantic League, going a combined 3–1 with a 1.81 ERA and 75 strikeouts over $49 2/3$ innings. He was named a 2019 Northwest League All-Star. Vanasco did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vanasco underwent Tommy John Surgery in September 2020 after suffering an injury at the Rangers Alternate Training Site. Vanasco spent 2021 recovering from surgery, only returning to game action in the organizational fall instructional league. On November 19, 2021, Texas added Vanasco to their 40–man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Vanasco split the 2022 season between Hickory and the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League, going a combined 3–5 with a 4.68 ERA and 118 strikeouts over $92 1/3$ innings. He was optioned to Double-A Frisco to begin the 2023 season. On March 29, 2023, it was announced that Vanasco would miss 4–6 weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. On May 29, Vanasco was designated for assignment.

Los Angeles Dodgers
On June 1, 2023, Vanasco was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Luis Valdez. After one start for the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Dodgers, Vanasco surrendered two runs in an inning pitched for the Double–A Tulsa Drillers. On June 30, Vanasco was designated for assignment. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Double–A Tulsa on July 5. He pitched in 20 games for Tulsa with a 1–4 record and 1.52 ERA and five games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, where he did not allow a run in $5 1⁄3$ innings. He became a minor league free agent following the season on November 6.

On November 16, 2023, Vanasco re–signed with the Dodgers on a one–year, $900K major league contract. He returned to Oklahoma City to begin the 2024 season but was called up to the majors for the first time on April 15. He pitched two scoreless innings that night in his debut against the Washington Nationals and recorded his first major league strikeout of Riley Adams.