Ryu Hyun-jin to return to the mound after a month

The Toronto Blue Jays’ South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, who was placed on the injured list, is returning to the mound after a month.

The Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said on Wednesday that Ryu will start in an away match scheduled on May 15, 28 days after he started at home against the Oakland Athletics on April 17. Ryu, who has been in a bad condition this season with a 13.50 ERA in two games, was on the injured list with left arm injury, started in a minor league game on Sunday to check his condition.

Ryu might not be able to pitch longer innings than expected in his return game. During the two games he started before the injury, he only pitched three and 1/3 innings and four innings, respectively. The manager Montoyo is recently employing a ‘piggyback’ system, which offers three to four innings to two starters. Ryu may pitch the first three to four innings in his return game, letting Ross Stripling to pitch another three to four innings.

Fans are also curious if Ryu will face off against his high school junior, Choi Ji-man of the Tampa Bay Rays. Choi also came back from his elbow injury on Monday. On May 24 of last year, when the two Korean players went head to head for the first time, Choi had one hit in three at-bats.


leper@donga.com