Whether out of an abundance of caution or just Dodgers manager Don Mattingly being his normal coy self, nobody in the Dodgers camp will come right out and say that left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu will start Game-3 of the NLDS on Monday in St. Louis – but there is every indication that he will. Is this 100% certain? No. It it highly probably? Yes.

On Tuesday  afternoon Ryu reportedly threw a 45-pitch simulated game at Dodger Stadium. I say reportedly because the media was excluded from the team’s workouts, but this was the official word in a written statement from the Dodgers:

“Ryu was at his normal velocity and used all of his pitches with no problems before, during or after with his shoulder,” the statement read. “He will be re-examined tomorrow to determine how the shoulder responded. Ryu faced several Dodger hitters, including Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig, Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, Dee Gordon and Scott Van Slyke.”

Based on his simulated game on Tuesday, there is every reason to believe that Hyun-jin Ryu will start Game-3 of the NLDS. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

During his pre-game media briefing last Friday Mattingly was asked specifically if Ryu was lined-up to pitch Game-3 of the Division Series.

“It’s hard to say he lines up for anything at this moment but he’s moving in the right direction,” said Mattingly. “He’s got a few other hurdles to cross.”

Those hurdles included a bullpen session last Sunday and Ryu’s simulated game on Tuesday – both of which he reportedly came out of without any issues or setbacks. But as noted in the written statement, Ryu will be re-examined later today and the results will determine if there are any remaining hurdles for the 27-year-old South Korean left-hander to cross.

Ryu was shut down on September 12 when he experienced left shoulder irritation during the Dodgers 9-0 loss to the Giants at AT&T Park. Ryu told reporters after the game that the irritation felt “very similar” to an injury that landed him on the disabled list for three and a half weeks last May. An MRI on September 15 showed no structural damage to the shoulder and using the same three and a half week time frame puts Ryu’s return almost directly on top of Monday’s Game-3 start.

The Dodgers could skip Ryu for Monday’s start and instead go with right-hander Dan Haren who is 3-1 with a 2.09 ERA in his last seven starts, but barring the unforeseen, there is every indication that Ryu will get the nod – even if Mattingly won’t come right out and say so.