Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Hyun-Jin Ryu is back, until he isn’t. After one start, it sounds like he’s going to miss his second.
“Sources have told Today’s Knuckleball that left-handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, who was originally slated to make his second start of the season on Wednesday, is instead likely to miss that start with what discomfort in his pitching elbow. He is scheduled to be examined by team doctors, making it all but certain be misses his scheduled start.”
And this from Andy McCullough:
Hyun-Jin Ryu has been scratched from his outing tomorrow due to elbow discomfort. MRI showed no notable changes from previous exams.
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) July 19, 2016
I’ve seen this movie before…
Update:
Both Casey Fien (retroactive to July 17) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (retroactive to July 9) have been placed on the 15-day DL with elbow tendonitis.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 19, 2016
Ryu is coming back from shoulder surgery and didn’t fare particularly well in his first start. He is also a former Tommy John recipient, so this is not good.
Ryu’s velocity declined considerably in his outing. If he has any kind of arm/shoulder/elbow issue, the Dodgers need to play it safe — and it sounds like they will.
Brock Stewart and Jose De Leon are options to take his start in the rotation (tomorrow in Washington). Stewart would seemingly have the edge as he’s scheduled to pitch for Oklahoma City today and he’s on the 40-man roster, while De Leon isn’t. I’d bet heavily on Stewart making that start.
If Ryu doesn’t improve health-wise, the Dodgers obviously can’t count on him for the rest of the season. Brett Anderson is slated to come back at some point, but that won’t prevent the Dodgers from exploring the starting pitcher market over the next two weeks.
I think we were all really hoping Ryu would be OK and eventually return to form (or something close to it). It may have been just that — hope. If he doesn’t throw another pitch this season, it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing in the world.
The best thing is to not count on Ryu to provide much of anything the rest of the season … or maybe even his career.
