When the Dodgers signed South Korean star left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu to a six-year/$36 million contract (in addition a $25.7 million posting fee the Dodgers had to pay just to negotiate with him), they fully believed that they had pulled off the deal (and steal) of the century – and for the first two years of the contract they had.

(Courtesy of baseballprospectus.com)

In his first two seasons in a Dodger uniform, the then 27-year-old Incheon, South Korea native posted an excellent 28-15 record with an equally impressive 3.17 ERA over his combined 344.0 innings pitched. So good was Ryu that he would have been a number one on nearly every other major league team were it not for the fact that he had Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke ahead of him in the Dodgers rotation.

And then the bottom fell out.

As every Dodger fan knows, Ryu underwent season-ending shoulder surgery on May 21, 2015 to repair a torn labrum – a condition that the Dodgers knew about when they signed him in 2012. And though it was hoped (and even guaranteed by Ryu) that he would be ready for spring training 2016, he was not and began the season on the disabled list.

After a lengthy recovery period and several minor league rehab starts, the rock star-like left-hander finally returned to the Dodger Stadium mound on July 7, 2016 against the San Diego Padres.

It did not end well.

Ryu lasted only 4.2 innings during which he allowed six runs on eight hits (including a home run) while striking out four and walking two. He made a total of 89 pitches of which 55 were strikes. He ultimately landed back on the disabled list and on September 28, 2016, he underwent left elbow debridement surgery that ended his 2016 season after making only that one start. When you break it down, Ryu was paid $78,652 for each of his 89 pitches that day.

While hope springs eternal and all that, Ryu’s extremely brief one-game 2016 season was predictable. It’s not that he didn’t work hard to try to make it back to the bigs, it’s that he was… well… awful in his first two rehab starts with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on May 15 and May 20, 2016. And even though he won one of these two games, he did not look sharp in his combined 5.0 innings of work. Yes, you can argue that he allowed only one earned run on four hits and struck out three while walking none, but that one earned run (and another unearned run) were home runs. All three of those strikeouts were on his curveball which was absolutely filthy, but his fastball was flat with very little movement that didn’t fool many High-A hitters.

In spite of his efforts, Ryu struggle during his rehab assignments with the Quakes and OKC Dodgers in 2016. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Things didn’t improve for the hard-throwing left-hander in his three rehab starts with the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers. In fact, they got worse. In his 9.2 innings against Triple-A hitters, Ryu posted an 0-1 record and 8.38 ERA while allowing four runs on 15 hits (including two home runs), striking out nine and walking none. Once again, Ryu’s command was there (hence the strikeouts), but his fastball was still flat and very hittable.

“I think it’s one of those things that anytime a player has surgery you have an expected time that they’re back but each case is so different,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman shortly after the 2016 season ended. “Some guys come back ahead of schedule, some take a little bit longer. We focus more in on ‘Is a guy working hard? Is he putting himself in the best possible position to come back as quickly as he can?’ That’s what we are assessing. And Ryu did everything he could to get back and try and help this team.”

After his elbow surgery in September, Ryu spent time recovering at home. The 6′ 3″/250-pound lefty then began a very comprehensive rehab in Japan.

“Los Angeles Dodgers’ left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu will continue his rehab from elbow surgery in Japan,” said Yoo Jee-ho of Yonhap News Agency. “Ryu will depart for Okinawa on [January 6, 2017] to set up camp with his former Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) teammate, Hanwha Eagles’ right-hander Jang Min-jae.

“Ryu will be working out on his own for three weeks,” Jee-ho added. “He wants to get into better form before leaving for Arizona in late January.”

And what does Ryu have to say about all of this?

“Right now, I’d say I am in better shape than I normally would be at the start of spring training,” Ryu told reporters upon his return from Japan. “I threw four bullpen sessions while training in Japan. I have no pain at the moment.”

While all of this is great news for Ryu fans and Dodger fans in general, it’s difficult to get overly optimistic that the popular left-hander will be in the Dodgers starting rotation in 2017. With guys named Kershaw, Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill, Julio Urias, Scott Kazmir, Ross Stripling, Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood and Brock Stewart (among others) vying for five spots in the Dodgers 2017 starting rotation, Hyun-Jin Ryu definitely has his work cut out for him if he hopes to pitch at Dodger Stadium again this coming season.

…or ever.