MLB.com, the official portal of the Major League Baseball, said Toronto Blue Jays’ ace pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin is behind the team’s recent rise. The website said on Friday, “A rocksteady ace for a team that needed exactly that, Ryu is the unquestioned leader of the rotation, and the Blue Jays will push him as hard as they reasonably can when these big games roll around. That’s a great start, but true postseason competitors have a No. 2 and No. 3 who can shut down opposing lineups, too.”
The 33-year-old South Korean recorded three wins and one loss, and an impressive earned run average of 3.19 in the first year after moving from the Los Angeles Dodgers to Toronto. He will seek to secure his fourth win of this season against the New York Mets on Monday.
While both the Yankees and the Mets are based in New York, Ryu has displayed starkly contrasting performances in games against the two teams. Ryu lost a game against the Yankees last Tuesday by giving six hits including three homers, and five runs during five innings. He has played in three games against the Yankees, had two losses, and recorded an unimpressive ERA of 8.80 overall. On the other hand, Ryu has taken the mound in a total of eight games against the Mets, and had four wins and one loss, recording an ERA of 1.20. The Mets are lagging behind by posting 20 wins and 24 losses as of Thursday, ranking fourth in the National League Eastern Division. However, Ryu should be aware that the Mets boast an overall batting average of 0.275, ranking first in the entire Major League.
Ryu must regain confidence by displaying quality pitching in the game against the Mets. Toronto have eight games to play against the Yankees in a race to advance to the postseason in the American League Eastern Division. He is expected to start in one or two more games against the Yankees.
Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com