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Ryu Hyun-jin shows best performance after return from injury

Ryu Hyun-jin shows best performance after return from injury

Posted June. 02, 2017 07:11,   

Updated June. 02, 2017 07:34

한국어
Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers has shown his best performance this season, seizing the opportunity given to him by teammate pitcher Alex Wood’s injury.

Ryu threw a solid outing in his return to the starting rotation by tossing six effective innings in a no-decision against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Wednesday (local time), allowing three hits, walking one and striking out four. It was his second quality start this season. He lowered his earned run average (ERA) from 4.28 to 3.91. Ryu, who earned a save by pitching four innings without any runs lost in his first relief pitching on May 26 since his Big League debut, performed well in two consecutive games after his return from an injury.

Although he did not win on Wednesday, he showed his best performance this season. Ryu, who has been increasing the ratio of throwing breaking balls since his shoulder operation, threw 57 breaking balls, about 74 percent of his 77 pitches on the day. The average speed of his fastball, which was cited as Ryu’s weakest point, stood at 90.9 miles (146.3 kilometers), his fastest this year. Judging from the number of pitches he threw, he could have thrown at least another inning or two buy was lifted for pinch hitter Austin Barnes in the top seventh with the score knotted at 1-1.

He also operated his game well. Having struck out Matt Carpenter with a high fastball in the third inning, Ryu added chaos to his opponent hitters by throwing the six-innings to MB.com, which operates the official homapge of the Major League Baseball. It praised Ryu for his best starting game in this season and his inspiring return to the starting lineup.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who marked his 45th birthday on Thursday, will likely have to rethink his strategy, as Ryu is drawing a steadily upward trajectory in his limited performance as a long relief. Dodgers starter Kenta Maeda was replaced in just after four innings with three runs allowed. Roberts hinted at giving Ryu more opportunities as a starter.



Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com