Ryu Hyun-jin becomes Asian major leaguer with lowest ERA

Legendary pitcher Water Johnson of the Washington Senators (currently Minnesota) ranked first in ERA at 1.49 in the Major League Baseball 100 years ago. Johnson died at the age of 59 in 1946, but his record has yet to be broken. Fans can check out detailed records from as early as the 1876 season on the Major League website. Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers will likely be kept in Major League history forever as well.

Ryu started in the last game of the regular season Saturday at an away game against the San Francisco Giants. He displayed quality pitching and gave no runs during seven innings, to post an overall ERA of 2.32 for this season, effectively affirming his lead in the ERA rankings of the Major League. Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets, who ranks No. 2 with a 2.43 ERA, already played his last game as starting pitcher. It is the first time in Major League history that an Asian pitcher has topped the ERA rankings. Ryu has also broken for the first time in 24 years the lowest ERA record (2.54) for Asian pitchers, which was set by Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo in 1995.

Ryu is having the best season in his career in the Major League. In the beginning of the season, he started in the season’s opener against Arizona to back up Clayton Kershaw who had an injury. A pitcher’s starting in the opening game symbolizes the pitcher’s status as the ace. He will start in the second game of the Division Series, which will take place on October 5.


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