Ryu begins personal training on Jeju Island

Ryu Hyun-jin, the Korean starting pitcher of the Toronto Blue Jays, embarked on the preparation for the new season. According to his agency Aspect Corporation, Ryu kicked off his training at Gangchanghak baseball field on Jeju Island on Thursday. The training is scheduled to run for more than two weeks to Jan. 21 with his personal trainer Jang Se-hong, Hwanhwa’s Jang Min-jae and Kim Gi-tak, and SSG’s Lee Tae-yang joining the Korean Major Leaguer for his training. Ryu is footing the bills for the group training sessions.

Ryu had been doing personal training in Okinawa, Japan before the launch of the spring camp. But he had to move to Jeju last year owing to the spread of COVID-19. Ryu, who arrived in South Korea in October, was working out to get back in shape with restorative workouts and heavy lifting after taking a break. His sessions in Jeju will focus on outdoor training such as long toss, capitalizing on the island’s warmer climate.

Once his training in Jeju is over, Ryu is planning to schedule his departure after monitoring the developments of MLB negotiations. In December last year, Major League Baseball entered into a lockout after a failed attempt at collective negotiation. Even the players are not allowed to use their training facilities for now.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com