Dodgers’ Ryu Hyun-jin sees his ERA fall due to MLB’s decision

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryu Hyun (32) saw his ERA fall from 1.66 to 1.53. The Major League Baseball secretariat ruled in favor of Ryu in the controversy over his earned run records, which flared up following the away game against the Boston Red Sox on July 15. With the ruling, Ryu saw his ERA in July fall to 0.55, and is set to have even better performance than in May (0.59) when he was named the “Pitcher of the Month.” He is also now a step closer to winning his second “Pitcher of the Month” award in a single season.

During the game, the South Korean pitcher threw a pitch against Andrew S. Benintendi, with bases fully loaded and two outs in the first inning. Benintendi swung the bat to send a grounder towards the shortstop. As shortstop Chris Taylor missed the ball, two Red Sox runners scored runs. The hit was recorded as an infield hit, rather than the shortstop’s error. The next batter, Michael Chavis, also had a hit, and the two runs scored by the runners were recorded as earned runs. After the game, the Dodgers raised compliant with the MLB Secretariat.

After reviewing the complaint for as many as 17 days, the MLB Secretariat decided to revise the record from an infield hit to an error. A situation where a runner scores due to a defender’s error is not recorded as the pitcher’s earned run. As a result of the corrective measure, Ryu saw his ERA in July halve from 1.11 to 0.55. It is his record high monthly ERA in a season.

Notably, the ERA record that Ryu has posted is standing out all the more because the Major League is experiencing extremely ‘”robust hitting and weaker pitching” trend in recent months.

“I thought that the record would not be revised because it took so long, and I feel great to see the correction,” Ryu said after his record was corrected. “In the current excellent condition, I expect to continue to display good performance unless I instantly break down for no reason.”


Won-Joo Lee takeoff@donga.com