Hyun-jin Ryu is a rookie starter for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is currently one of the front runners for NL Rookie of the year thanks to some stellar numbers and some really consistent pitching. Recently, pitchers from Asia (Ryu is Korean) have struggled in the major leagues some but Ryu has joined the stellar Yu Darvish in bucking that trend. Ryu doesn’t get a ton of attention behind aces Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke in the Dodgers rotation but he is a major key to the team’s recent success.
Ryu has posted some impressive numbers this season. He’s 9-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 20 starts. At one point in early July, his ERA was a s low as 2.9. In 129 innings, he’s given up only 118 hits. His WHIP is a solid 1.2 and his K/BB ratio is 2.5. Depending on who you ask, Ryu’s WAR is right around 2 and he’s been hot of late as well. The Dodgers have won 9 of his last 11 starts.
Ryu thorws 5 pitchesL four-seam, two-seam, changeup, slider and curve.He relies on the fastballs most heavily and does a really good job of changing speeds with that pitch. For both the four and two seamers, Ryu can run it up there as high as 94mph but has thrown them as soft as 84mph. His average velo on those pitches is right around 90mph which tells us that he mixes up speeds on the fastballs a lot.
Arguably, Ryu’s most effective pitch is the slider. He’s yet to surrender a homer on that pitch and, percentage wise, he strikes out the most batters with it. The slider has some nasty break and can come at the hitter anywhere from 74 to 88 mph. Batters are hitting only .187 on Ryu’s slider.
The bottom line on Ryu is that he’s been an incredibly valuable piece for the Dodgers this season. If LA makes the playoffs, he’s their number three starter, giving them a potent 1-2-3 combo, perhaps the best in the league. LA’s top three is definitely stronger than Pittsburgh’s, Cincinnati’s, Atlanta’s, and Arizona’s and probably also the Cardinals’. Another advantage to having Ryu in the playoffs is that the Dodgers won’t have to give the ball to Rickey Nolasco right away. That’s a really good thing if Don Mattingly’s boys want to win anything.
Ryu is a solid three starter that could pass as a two on most teams in the NL. While true that the Dodgers are paying a pretty high price for his services in the long term, he’s only costing them $3.3 million this season.The 26 year old has been a really pleasant surprise for the Dodgers this season and can really help them come playoff time. Though probably not with the bat:
-Max Frankel
