Ryu Hyun-jin gets win for the first time in 444 days after injury

Ryu Hyun-jin of the Toronto Blue Jays obtained his first win after recovering from an injury. The South Korean pitcher allowed only two runs on two hits and two walks for five innings against the Chicago Cubs in an MLB home game on Monday and stepped down with his team leading the game by 8-2 in the top of the sixth inning. The Toronto Blue Jays, which was on a three-consecutive losing streak until the previous day, finally got a win 11-4, with Ryu as a winning pitcher.

It has been 444 days since May 27 last year, when Ryu became a winning pitcher in the MLB. The last game he won was his second win of the season against the Los Angeles Angels in an away game in Los Angeles. He allowed two runs in five innings. He got surgery, which is often called Tommy John Surgery, to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament inside the elbow on June 19, ㅣlast year, and returned to the MLB stage in a home game on August 2.

“Ryu’s speed is not up to its full potential but he knows how to throw a ball. In particular, his changeup was impressive,” David Wade Ross, a former catcher and the current manager for the Chicago Cubs, said. Ryu struck out three during the game, which he achieved with changeups for critical throws. Even when the Cubs batters hit Ryu’s changeups, the average batting speed was only 119 kilometers per hour.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com