Ryu Hyun-jin confirmed to return Aug. 2…14 months of patience – 2 months of full-throttle pitching
In January of this year, Sports Illustrated (SI) pessimistically predicted that “Ryu, who is in his mid-30s, is unlikely to return in July, and if he does, it will be as an opener with short innings, or as a bridge guy with relatively long innings between the opener and the bullpen”.
Toronto manager John Schneider told SI on Monday, “He’s ready to go. It’s time to move forward. There’s no looking back,” he said, adding, “He doesn’t have a pitch count limit.”
Hyun-jin Ryu’s comeback game is scheduled for Aug. 2 at 8:07 a.m. ET against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
After completing his rehabilitation, Hyun-jin Ryu will take the mound as the starting pitcher, defying the ‘pessimism’.
Though he’s a few days behind his goal of returning in July, Hyun-jin Ryu will make his return not as an opener or bridge guy, but as a full starting pitcher with “no pitch count restrictions.
It will be exactly one year and two months since Ryu pitched in a big league game, a home game against the Chicago White Sox on June 2 last year.
After giving up three runs on five hits in four innings, he was removed from the game due to elbow soreness and admitted that he “regretted pitching today.”
On June 19, 2022, Ryu underwent ligament reconstruction surgery on his left elbow. He had hoped to avoid the surgery, but once it was confirmed, he expressed his desire to rehabilitate with the goal of returning in July 2023.
Ryu has been on the operating table four times in his baseball career.
In April 2004, when he was a sophomore at Dongsan High School, he underwent ligament splicing surgery on his left elbow and rehabilitated for a year.
In May 2015, after reaching the major leagues, he underwent career-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, and in September 2016, he went under the knife again to remove necrotic tissue from his left elbow.
The 2016 surgery was a relatively minor procedure with a shorter rehabilitation period than the ligament splicing surgery.
Ryu has had a successful post-surgery comeback.
Ryu began his professional career in 2006 with the Hanwha Eagles of the Korean Baseball Organization and dominated the KBO before breaking into the major leagues in 2013.
In 2019, he led the majors with a 14-5 record and a 2.32 ERA, and in 2020, a shortened season due to the coronavirus pandemic, he was Toronto’s ace with a 5-2 record and a 2.69 ERA.
However, he struggled in 2021, with his ERA spiking to 4.37 (14-10), and last year he was plagued by elbow pain, ending his season prematurely with a 6-2 record and a 5.67 ERA.
According to the “chalk theory,” pitchers’ arms wear out. Pitchers try to slow down the rate of wear and tear.
After throwing 1,269 regular-season innings in the KBO and 1,033 innings in the American Major Leagues, Ryu’s arm was showing signs of fatigue.
When he can’t slow down the rate of wear and tear anymore, he decides to have surgery to rejuvenate his tired arm.
However, no one can guarantee a comeback after surgery. For Ryu, who returned to the operating table for the first time in six years, the age of 36 was also a barrier.
After three previous surgeries and more rehabilitation, it was hard to predict whether he would bounce back after his fourth surgery.
Ryu chose to undergo a long and painful surgery and rehabilitation to restore his pitching.
The jury is still out on his comeback, but for now, Ryu is back on the big league mound after 14 months.
Ryu, who signed a four-year, $80 million deal with Toronto in 2020, is out of contract after this season.
Toronto will play its final regular season game of 2023 on October 2.
After 14 months of perseverance, Ryu has two months left to go out with a bang.바카라사이트
His performance over the next two months could be the difference between staying in the big leagues and returning to the KBO.