Los Angeles Dodgers: Reliving Hyun-Jin Ryu’s legacy

Sunday night Los Angeles Dodgers fans got an early present of coal in their stocking as starter Hyun-Jin Ryu was announced to have signed a four year, 80 million dollar contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The announcement of Hyun-Jin Ryu’s signing means his six-year Los Angeles Dodgers career is over just a season after he was the ace of the pitching staff leading the club in wins, innings pitched, ERA+ and ERA, for which he led all of Major League Baseball.

Ryu, a native of South Korea, was signed in 2012 by the Dodgers as a free agent after spending six seasons as a pro in his native country. Over his two first seasons with the Dodgers, Ryu won 28 games and struck out 293 batters, helping the Dodgers win two division titles.

In 2015, Ryu developed his first major injury, developing a tear in his pitching shoulder that required surgery and took away two years of his pitching career. After a rocky 2017, Ryu rebounded in 2018 but then came his second major injury, losing three months thanks to a groin tear that threatened his career.

Ryu came back from the injury and went on a tear that solidified him as the new “ace” of the staff. He lowered his ERA to a 1.97 giving up just seven earned runs over 41 2/3 innings at home to finish the season.

In Game 1 of the NLDS Ryu was named the surprise starter over Clayton Kershaw and proceeded to pitch seven shutout innings, striking out eight and putting the Dodgers up 1-0 in the series and beginning the team’s drive to their second consecutive World Series appearance. As the Game 2 starter, Ryu became the first Korean to start a World Series game.

Last season, Ryu came out of the gates dominating opposing batters, Ryu threw 31 scoreless innings during the first half of season the 10th longest streak in franchise history. Ryu was the Major League  Pitcher of the Month in May after going 5-0 with a 0.59 ERA. Ryu was selected as the starting pitcher of the All-Star game his first appearance in the mid-summer showcase.

Ryu would lead the league with a 2.32 ERA and would finish second in the CY Young ballot, 2019 ultimately being his last in a Dodgers uniform.

Throughout the free-agent process, it seemed the Dodgers weren’t willing to meet Ryu’s demands for a long-term contract, balking at signing him for four years his asking price. It is likely that the team was wary of Ryu’s age (32 soon to be 33) and injury history.

With several question marks in the starting rotation, the Dodgers will need to look to the trade market for a replacement for Ryu having missed out on one of the strongest starters in the free-agent pitching market.

Hyun-Jin Ryu’s legacy with the Los Angeles Dodgers will be marred by the injury issues but there is no doubt his highest highs make him one of their better signings of the last decade.