Los Angeles Dodgers: Why Hyun-Jin Ryu won’t be a Dodger in 2020
By Jason Reed
The Los Angeles Dodgers had one of the best starting rotations in the MLB in 2020 and was headlined by the emergence of a Cy Young-caliber Hyun Jin Ryu.
As always, the Los Angeles Dodgers sported one of the best pitching staffs in the entire league in the 2020 season. The starting rotation was stellar in the regular season with the three-headed monster of Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler and the bullpen managed to finish the year first in the NL in ERA.
This shouldn’t have come as a surprise as solid pitching has been one the constant in the seven consecutive years that the Dodgers have won the National League West. It has been a revolving door of talent, but the pitching has always been the bread and butter.
What was surprising this year was the emergence of Hyun-Jin Ryu. Ryu was not only the best pitcher on the Los Angeles Dodgers this year, but for most of the season, he was the best pitcher in baseball, and it wasn’t even close.
It took a rocky finish and an extremely red-hot finish for Jacob deGrom to even make the conversation close and Ryu still led the Majors in ERA.
We still have to wait to see if Ryu’s performance will warrant a Cy Young. We also have to wait and see what the Dodgers’ plans are with the crafty southpaw, as he is set to be a free agent after accepting the qualifying offer from the Dodgers last winter.
As good as Ryu was, however, it looks more likely than not that his Dodger career is coming to an end. Here are the three main reasons why Ryu won’t be a Dodger in 2020.