Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu has done what no one else within the Dodgers organization has been able to do thus far – solve the team’s on-going bullpen issues.

His solution? Don’t use it … or at least skip the middlemen and a yet-to-be-determined bridge man and hand the game off directly to Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen.

Granted, this isn’t really a solution to a very real problem of having a completely inept bullpen, but it worked well for the 32-year-old Incheon, South Korea native on Thursday night when he – yet again – pitched an absolute gem for the NL West-leading Dodgers against the New York Mets in front of 47,848 at Dodger Stadium before handing the ball to Jansen for a four-out save.

Ryu pitched 7.2 innings, allowing no runs, four hits, while walking one and striking out seven in his brilliant 7.2 innings of work.

“I think with his stuff, he could survive in any era,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters following Ryu’s gem. “It’s always a good thing to command the baseball and to use different pitches. But now when you talk about the ability to strike guys out, and the ability to put the ball on the ground, now you’re talking about shifting and defensive metrics and putting guys in the right spots, layering on tendencies of the hitter.

“Hyun-Jin’s balls in play are converted into outs more than any of our pitchers,” Roberts added. “Right now, as an outlier, with the defensive metrics, that gives him an even better opportunity.”

The Dodgers scored their first of only two runs on the night early on triple by Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor to leadoff the bottom of the first inning. This was followed by a RBI double by third baseman Max Muncy to give Ryu a one-run lead to work with. The problem is, his offense then went to sleep, not scoring again until the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-out RBI single by second baseman Kiké Hernandez to drive in Dodgers first baseman David Freese, who had doubled earlier in the inning. Jansen then sealed the deal with a four-out save, allowing no runs, hits, or walks while striking out two, to earn his 16th save of the season.

With the win, Ryu is now a National League-best 8-1 on the season with a MLB-best 1.48 ERA. He hasn’t allowed a home run in 48.2 innings and has walked only five in his 73.0 innings pitched this season through 11 starts. He finished the month of May going 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA, the lowest ERA in a single month for a Dodgers starter since Clayton Kershaw’s 0.27 ERA in July of 2015.

“This month of May is incredible,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “I’ve always told everyone I want to throw six, seven innings to put the team in a position to help the team win, but I haven’t always been able to do it. But this month of May I definitely was able to do it, and it’s unbelievable.”

Although many (most) Dodger fans believe that Ryu will not only earn a spot on the upcoming 2019 NL All-Star roster but will be the starting pitcher, Roberts was a bit reluctant to go there … yet.

“We’re not there yet,” answered the Dodgers skipper when asked about that. ”But he’s a clear front-runner.”

Play Ball!

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