March 17th, 2016 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was Saturday, November 10, 2012. My brother Tom and I had just arrived at the LA Coliseum to stake out our tailgating spot for that afternoon’s USC – Arizona State football game when my cell phone rang. The call was from my dear friend and fellow ThinkBlueLA staff writer Harold Uhlman. What was unusual about the call is that Harold rarely calls me because he lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and it’s a rather expensive toll call.
Like myself, Harold is getting up there in age and my first thought was of health concerns for he or wife of (then) 39 years, but this was quickly dismissed when I heard the excitement in Harold’s voice.
“The Dodgers just posted Hyun-jin Ryu,” Harold said excitedly. “He’s going to be a Dodger!”
“Wow, that’s great, Harold,” I replied, leaving out the fact that I had no idea who Hyun-jin Ryu was.
As if reading my mind Harold quickly added “He’s that top-ranked Korean left-hander. He’s a good acquisition for the Dodgers!”
“He sure is,” I continued to feign.
After exchanging pleasantries we concluded our call and I immediately Googled Ryu. Upon doing so I realized that I was way out of the loop on this one. Ryu wasn’t just a good acquisition for the Dodgers, he was a great acquisition for them.
Ryu proved to be the perfect number three starter for the Dodgers in his first two seasons. The question is, will he ever be so again? (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Through his first two seasons with the Dodgers Ryu posted an excellent 28-15 record and 3.17 ERA. He was, in every sense of the word, the quintessential number three starter behind Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke.
But then disaster struck.
After two brief spring training starts in 2015, the hard-throwing lefty reported feeling tightness in his left shoulder. Two days later he received an anti-inflammatory injection and was shut down for what the Dodgers hoped would be only three days and that he would make his next scheduled start.
He did not.
In fact, Ryu did not make another spring training start and began the 2015 season on the disabled list. And after a lengthy attempt at recovery, Ryu announced that he was going to have season-ending shoulder surgery for a torn labrum – a condition that both he and the Dodgers knew about when they signed him to a six-year / $36 million contract on December 9, 2012 – this in addition to the $62 million posing fee that Harold had called me about two years earlier.
The fact that Ryu needed shoulder surgery wasn’t a surprise to the media. The fact that he and the Dodgers knew about his torn labrum when they signed him two years earlier was.
(Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)
During the off-season Ryu insisted that his recovery was progressing exceptionally well – so well, in fact, that he told reporters he would be one hundred percent by Opening Day. And while this may have sounded great and perhaps even gave Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and new Dodgers manager Dave Roberts an inkling of hope that it actually might happen when pitchers and catchers reported on February 19, the soon-to-be 29-year-old Incheon, South Korea native has now been officially scratched from making a Cactus League start this spring following a 20-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday; and he will, in all likelihood, begin his second consecutive season on the disabled list.
“When you’re trying to get ready for a season and you look at the timetable for Ryu, he’s pushed back,” Roberts told reporters on Wednesday morning. “There are guys we have to focus on that are going to be here. Where he’s at with the training staff, we have to put more emphasis on the guys who are going to break [spring training camp] for us.
“He was a guy that we penciled in at the top of the rotation,” Roberts added. “You’ve got to adapt. Things are going to happen that we’re not too excited about. But obviously, that’s our reality.”
Even though Ryu said that he felt good after his 20-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday, the following morning Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters that he will not be appearing in a Cactus League game this spring. (Photo credit Ross D. Franklin)
Although Roberts stopped short of saying that Ryu had suffered a setback after Tuesday’s bullpen session, the Dodgers skipper certainly left reporters with the impression that Ryu wasn’t progressing as well as the Dodgers brass and medical staff had hoped he would. But keep in mind that it took former Dodger Matt Kemp more than two years to fully recovery from his labrum surgery and Kemp is an outfielder, not a pitcher.
If there is one silver lining to all of this it’s that the Dodgers still have good starting pitching depth with Opening Day less than three weeks away – including MLB’s top-ranked left-handed pitching prospect Julio Urias. That being said, Urias has allowed four runs on five hits through three spring training innings thus far for a rather tenuous 12.00 earned run average. He has, however, struck out three while walking only one and picked up the win on Wednesday afternoon to improve his spring training record to 1-1.
In addition to Urias the Dodgers also have right-handers Brandon Beachy, Mike Bolsinger, Zach Lee, Ross Stripling and Jose De Leon available to fill out the Dodgers rotation until Ryu returns.
…if he returns, that is.
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I admit to being an optimist. That said: No, Hyun-Jin will not be a perfect #3 starter in the future. He will be a purty durn good #2 starter.
I remember that call. It was in your pre-Twitter days when I could still land a first. lol
I had no idea you were feigning. You should play poker.
Hopefully Ryu’s medical issues get straightened out soon. It has been a longer than expected path for both him and the team as well as the fans. He is definitely a key to a number of things.
With a $60 million posting fee, signing Ryu was certainly a calculated risk. I’m starting to doubt he will be able to return before the All-Star break. By then, either the pitcher who’s taken his place will be pitching well enough to stay in the rotation or it will be too late for him to make a difference. Hopefully he will be at least be able to fulfill the final two years of his contract.
Gives me horrible flashbacks to last season when the Dodgers sent a blazing hot Mike Bolsinger back down to Triple-A to make room for newly acquired Mat Latos.
I’m sorry to read that we can not expect Ryu to return in May. I was looking forward to seeing him pitch again, especially after the loss of Greinke. It’s good to know that the Dodgers have plenty of depth in the pitching dept. at this time.
Not only Kemp, but Adrian Gonzalez had labrum surgery. I remember reading that Agon told Kemp that it took 2 years before he felt that his shoulder was back to full strength.
Forgot all about that one. In fact, AGon was with the Red Sox while he was recovering and fell short of their expectations of him which, of course, led to him being traded to the Dodgers. (We won the trade).
That may have been one of the mostly “costly” wins in organization history.
It is a day for green beer but in here there is a lot of blue Kool-Aid being consumed. The chances of Ryu pitching this year are nil. When someone says they will be ready by spring training and they have to shut it down after 20 pitches then they definitely haven’t tested their rehabilitation progress and they have no clue as to their own body. Sorry but it turns out to be all lip service from either him or his agent.
Prior to injury Ryu could not handle a 5 man rotation, now it’s a given so either the Dodgers go with a 6 man rotation or he becomes nothing more than a spot starter. My over/under for Ryu future starts as a Dodger is 15.
And I’m taking the under.
We didn’t see Ryu prior to the injury. Like Ron, I’d never heard of him. It happened before he crossed the pond, as was widely reported last year.
We have no idea what is happening with Ryu. Is it a setback? Is it just that he needs to take the rehab slower? Was his surgery the same as Kemp’s and A-Gon’s? We have no idea and of course, unless the Dodgers are really stupid, they are not going to tell us. Nor should they!
What I do know is that Ryu pitched with a torn labrum the past three years. His labrum was repaired and it was reported that there was very little damage to his labrum. I know some pitchers recover from this and some don’t.
I could say that I think he will be fine (but I am optimistic by nature). Pessimists may say he is done – stick a fork in him. Neither position has anything to do with reality. It’s a WAG based upon your own proclivities and not based upon reality. Reality is: WE DON”T KNOW.
I am not counting on him and if he comes back – great! If not, next man up.
Lee, Bolsinger and Beachy are all in the running for that spot. Stripling has looks very good also, but I think that RIGHT now, it’s one of those three. The kids aren’t ready yet… but they may be soon! I’m liking what I am seeing.
Drip, drip, drip. Reminds me of last year–Ryu just needed more rest; he’d be fine in a couple of weeks, er, months, uh next year. The Dodger press office doesn’t have to give us medical briefings but it could stop acting like Pravda.
Considering Ryu’s recent history they likely did believe it would be more of the same.
[…] Think Blue LA Says Ryu’s Return is Still Anyone’s Guess […]
I’m not counting on Ryu either, which probably puts me on a certain pessimistic proclivity list, but it just makes baseball sense to move on without him. He may be able to pitch some by mid summer and if so, great. Put him in the back of the rotation that includes Beachy, Bolsinger, Stripling, De Leon, Frias, Lee, McCarthy and maybe even Urias later in the season.
SPOT ON!
I reckon it’s time to temper my optimism a might. From AGon’s and Kemp’s experiences it seems next year is a more reasonable target. I’m still saying I expect him coming back strong, just a little later.
Ryu threw another bullpen on Friday morning. He is now saying that he expects to be back in June.
Hmmmm, paraphrasing Ryu over the last several months: I will be ready for start of ST; I will be 100% for opening day; I will be ready in May; now, I expect to be back in June — sounds more like what Ryu hopes will happen. Don’t misunderstand, I want a healthy Ryu back ASAP.
Can’t say I disagree, but at least he’s still throwing bullpens… so there’s that.