“As long as Toronto sticks with a six-man rotation”
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Hyun-jin Ryu made his first start of the 2023 Major League Baseball season against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday (Feb. 2), throwing 80 pitches in five innings, allowing four runs (four earned) on nine hits (one home run) with three walks and one strikeout. Not bad considering his more than year-long absence, but it was the yoke of defeat that returned to Ryu.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery last season and a lengthy rehabilitation period, Ryu began his return to the major leagues in earnest last month. He made four starts in the minors, starting in Rookie ball and moving up to Single-A and then Triple-A, where he went 2-0 with 16 strikeouts and four runs (four earned) in 18 innings pitched and a 2.00 ERA.
Ryu was initially expected to return to the mound late last month against the Los Angeles Angels, but Toronto decided to give him another look in a simulated game, and he took the mound against Baltimore on April 2. Ryu has been very strong against the Orioles in the past. In nine career meetings, he has been consistently good, going 5-1 with a 4.35 ERA.
However, this game was a little different. The Baltimore Orioles, who are in first place in the American League East this year thanks to a surge in prospect potential since last year, pounded the returning Ryu. So while the outcome of Ryu’s return to the mound after 426 days wasn’t bad, the process left something to be desired.
In total, Ryu allowed nine hits on the night, five of which were long balls. He retired the leadoff batter on just one occasion in his six innings on the mound. Not all of them resulted in hits, but there were also 10 hard contact balls with bat speeds of 95 mph (152.8 km/h) or higher. The fastest one hit by Ryu was a whopping 110.3 mph (177.5 km/h).
The most frustrating moment came in the sixth inning. Ryu, who was on the mound with no pitch count restrictions, had kept his pitch count economical after giving up three runs in five innings, and he took the mound in the sixth. However, a five-pitch 77.4 mph changeup to Gunner Henderson in the middle of the strike zone proved to be a misfire, a solo home run over the right field wall and the final nail in the coffin for Ryu.온라인바카라
Nonetheless, the result of five runs in five innings was certainly encouraging. Ryu was able to minimize the damage even when he was shaken up by back-to-back runs in the first and second innings, especially in the third and fourth innings, but he was able to hold down the Baltimore offense, which is in first place in the Eastern Division, and he even got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning with a strikeout to end the inning. Still, it was a strong showing of crisis management.
Overall, the reviews weren’t bad. The Toronto Sun wrote, “Toronto is hoping that Ryu will make his long-awaited return to the major league mound.