It took exactly one pitch from Korean rookie phenom Hyun-jin Ryu to realize that he wasn’t about to let what happened in his last start against the Boston Red Sox happen again.

Ryu’s first pitch of the game, a 92 MPH two-seam fastball to Padres outfielder Chris Denorfia, was made with a purpose and crossed the outside corner of the plate at 92 MPH for a called strike one – and Ryu got better from there.

Ryu’s very first pitch of the night clearly showed that he brought his A-game.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

“He had a great fastball tonight,” said Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis of Ryu during a post-game interview. “His fastball command was pretty strong on the outside corner and he kept driving the ball there. (The Padres are) a good hitting team, they do a good job turning on the ball, especially when it’s on the inner half, so he had to establish the fastball away. He did an amazing job and he had some extra life on his fastball, if you noticed.”

Oh we noticed alright. Ryu hovered around the 92 to 94 MPH range all night long, even in his final inning of work in the 6th.

Ryu allowed one run on eight hits while walking one and striking out six in his 6.1 innings and improved his record to 13-5 – tops among all MLB rookie pitchers. He also lowered his ERA to 3.02 – 11th best in the National League, thus increasing his chances for the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year title.

With the possibility of Ryu having as many as six more starts in the regular season, we are witnessing L.A. Dodger history in the making. Ryu is currently tied with Hideo Nomo, Ismael Valdez and Fernando Valenzuela at 13 rookie wins and he trails Kazuhisa Ishii’s 14 wins by one. Nomo won the NL ROY title in 1995 and Fernando in 1981.