Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Hyun-Jin Ryu made his second rehab start with High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday night and allowed a couple home runs in his three innings of work.
He made his first appearance for the Quakes on Sunday, wherein he faced seven batters through two innings, struck out two and walked none and allowed one hit. He needed just 22 pitches.
This time, Ryu got through three innings on 44 pitches (34 strikes, six of which were swinging). He struck out one, walked none and allowed three hits, including the two homers.
In the top of the first, a two-out error put a rehabbing Andrew Susac on for San Jose Giants’ designated hitter Chris Shaw, who proceeded to take Ryu deep over the center field wall. Shaw was the Giants’ second pick (No. 31 overall) in last year’s draft.
Ryu got through the second inning without allowing a base runner, but in the top of the third, center fielder Ronnie Jebavy lined one that hit the left field wall above the home run demarcation line.
Perhaps most important is the fact that Ryu’s velocity wasn’t down from his last start. On Sunday, his fastball was sitting around 85-87 MPH. Last night, the stadium gun had it at 88-89 MPH. J.P. Hoornstra reported Ryu was more in the 87 MPH range again on Friday night. For reference, Ryu averaged about 91 MPH on his fastball in his first two seasons (2013 and 2014). As long as Ryu is actually pitching, it’s encouraging. There’s still a long way to go for him to make it back to Los Angeles, though.
The Quakes wound up losing to the Giants, 4-2. They had 11 hits and left eight men on base, so it kind of felt like watching the actual Dodgers. One of the highlights of the game for Rancho was first baseman Kyle Garlick, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. The 24-year-old is having an excellent season thus far, slashing .331/.398/.607 and leading the Quakes with 10 home runs.
