Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu’s successful fourth start of the season drew rave reviews from the organization and local media.
Hyun-jin Ryu won his second consecutive start against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 21, throwing 83 pitches over five innings, allowing two runs (unearned) on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Toronto won 10-3 and Ryu picked up his second win of the season, lowering his season ERA to 1.89.
After the game, the Toronto club posted photos of Ryu’s pitches and a video compilation of his strikeouts on social media, calling it a “monster, a master class.” They also wrote “Ryu Hyun-jin’s form is crazy” in Korean. They even put a Korean flag next to it.
On the day, Ryu’s fastball was clocked at just under 90 mph. His four-seam fastball reached a high of 89.6 mph (about 144 kilometers). It came in the fourth inning. But velocity wasn’t an issue for him, as he had a precise delivery and a changeup that batters couldn’t touch.
Cincinnati’s “monster rookie” Eli De La Cruz was struck out twice by Ryu’s 66.2 mph and 66.8 mph curveballs. De La Cruz wasn’t the only Cincinnati hitter to struggle with Ryu’s velocity.
MLB.com wrote, “Ryu isn’t harder than many pitchers, and it’s not a ‘wow’ pitch, but he’s smart. He reads hitters’ swings. He’s intimidating to aggressive hitters.”
MLB.com also noted Ryu’s performance, saying, “Ryu got two strikes and struck out De La Cruz with a 66- and 67-mph curveball.”
Ryu, who underwent ligament splicing surgery on his left elbow in June of last year, has shown that he has no lingering effects from the injury. He took the loss in his first game back, allowing four runs in five innings against Baltimore on April 2, but followed that up with four scoreless innings against the Cleveland Indians on April 8 and five scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs on April 14.
“Coming off Tommy John surgery, Hyun-jin Ryu has been solid in his four starts. He’s been pitching safely,” and “even better, he has eight strikeouts in his last 14 innings, including seven in five innings in this game.”
Ryu has pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings, dating back to Aug. 8 against Cleveland.카지노사이트
According to Canadian outlet Sportsnet, he “pitched his best stuff since the surgery.” If there was a question mark over Ryu’s resurgence after surgery, it’s been replaced with an exclamation point. He’s showing that he doesn’t need a fastball to be effective in the big leagues, just good command and control.