When Dodgers left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu showed up for spring training this past February he was in the proverbial best shape of his life. It was obvious that he had shed a few pounds and had worked out much harder during this the off-season than he had in the previous two since being signed by the Dodgers in December of 2012.

But after making only two spring training appearances for a grand total of five innings, the 28-year-old Incheon, South Korea native, who is entering the third year of his six year/$36 million contract, was shut down after experiencing tightness in his left shoulder.

“We kind of know what this is,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters at the time. “We’ve dealt with it before and he’s bounced back. Obviously, you’re still going to be concerned and make sure you’re cautious.”

There was no hint whatsoever of a shoulder problem during Ryu’s first bullpen session of spring training on February 21. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

After receiving an anti-inflammatory injection in his shoulder, Ryu did not throw for three days. But during a bullpen session on the fourth day, Ryu reported that the soreness was still there and he was shut down completely and it was announced that he would begin the season on the 15-day disabled list.

Over the next six weeks, Ryu began a gradual recovery program that had worked up to throwing off of flat ground, to an increasing long-toss and eventually throwing off of the mound in the Dodger Stadium bullpen. But all the while, Mattingly consistently skirted the issue as to a possible return date for his number three starter, saying only that there had been no setbacks.

But this past Wednesday, that setback finally came when Ryu’s normal 93-95-MPH fastball did not get above 82-83-MPH.

“They decided to give him some days off,” Mattingly told Bill Plunkett, the Dodgers beat writer for the Orange County Register. “They think it’s just that tired arm thing you get in spring training.”

No one can argue that Ryu isn’t working exceptionally hard to return to the Dodgers rotation.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Ryu was initially expected to miss only one or two starts; and then it was the first month of the season; and then the first two months of the season. But now it is highly unlikely that he will return before the All-Star break – something that Ryu himself initially scoffed at when he was shut down during spring training.

When you consider that the extremely popular lefty will have to build up his arm strength through minor league rehab starts every five days (at best) to equal the number of starts a pitcher normally gets during spring training, generally five or six, we’re talking a minimum of 25 to 30 days from the time he is deemed healthy enough to even begin those rehab starts, which apparently will not be happening anytime soon. This in and of itself makes an All-Star break return more realistic, if not optimistic.

Fortunately, Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi’s ‘Plug-and-Play’ spot start plan (and then unplug and send back to Oklahoma City) has, for the most part, worked out relatively well. Well enough, in fact, that the Dodgers have been in sole possession of first place in the NL West for nearly a month now. But while this is a very good thing, at some point the Dodgers are going to need a full (and permanent) five-man starting rotation – especially during the months of May and June when they have a total of two and then one day off respectively.

One can only hope that Ryu’s shoulder issue is, as we have been told ad nauseam, a relatively minor thing. But if it is not, and it appears that it isn’t, the Dodgers need to bite the bullet and do whatever needs to be done – including (Heaven forbid) surgery if necessary.