It’s a phenomena that happens quite frequently – a struggling pitcher gets cut from a team, gets picked up by a new team and flourishes. The Dodgers saw it with the likes of Vicente Padilla, Brett Tomko, Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, Ricky Nolasco and Edinson Volquez, among others. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, it just happens, and when it does, it makes Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti look like an absolute genius.

It appears that Colletti has done it yet again with the recent acquisitions of right-handers Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia – both who have pitched great since joining the Dodgers after struggling with their former teams, the Phillies and Twins respectively. What makes these acquisitions even more incredible is that Colletti got them both basically for a song – two low-level minor leaguers to be named later (or cash) for Hernandez and one for Correia.

Although it is highly unlikely that either Hernandez or Correia will displace Dan Haren on the presumed playoff roster as the number four starter, stranger things have happened – usually the result of a complete late-season meltdown or (Heaven forbid) an injury. Unfortunately, that injury thing may have just come into play with Dodgers number three starter Hyun-jin Ryu, who had to come out of Wednesday’s game with two outs in the fifth inning for what was reported as a strain of the gluteus maximus (you can’t make this stuff up, folks), thus denying Ryu a shot at joining teammate Clayton Kershaw at the top of MLB’s leaderboard with 14 wins (along with the Reds’ Johnny Cueto and the Cardinal’s Adam Wainwright).

“I felt fine through the whole game except when I was facing B.J. Upton,” said Ryu through an interpreter. “I felt it four pitches before I walked him but I thought it was nothing serious, so I thought I could pitch out of it. But it just kept getting worse and worse. I regret that I didn’t stop it right then.”

Ryu grimaces in pain after walking Braves center fielder B.J. Upton. Ryu was immediately removed from the game and will most likely miss his next scheduled start. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNetLA)

Realistically, one has to believe that Ryu’s strained butt muscle is a relatively minor injury, but prior to Thursday’s series finale against the Braves at Turner Field, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said that he is not very confident that his 27-year-old South Korean left-hander will be able to make his next start, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19 at Dodger Stadium against the Padres.

“I don’t feel his chances are very good of pitching on his turn,” Mattingly told reporters.

If this is indeed the case, newcomer Kevin Correia will most likely get the start in Ryu’s place, although with Monday being an off day Mattingly could simply choose to skip Ryu’s spot entirely – a more unlikely choice. And even though Correia was picked up off of waivers by Colletti to go into the Dodgers bullpen a long reliever/spot starter in place of Paul Maholm, he has been a starting pitcher throughout most of his 12-year MLB career. Maholm, as you recall, was recently placed on the disabled list and is out for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.

If Ryu’s injury is, in fact, minor in nature it could be a blessing in disguise for the Dodgers, as it will give the hard-throwing left-hander some extra rest as the team closes in on their second consecutive NL West title. However, if the injury is more serious than initially believed, it puts a bit of a wrinkle as to who the Dodgers will use as their number three and number four starters heading into the postseason.