Ryu Hyun-jin 안전놀이터(36, Toronto Blue Jays) finally takes the mound again today (13th) with a great sense of responsibility. Challenge for 4th win of the season. But the responsibility is enormous. This is because a teammate was upset and upset in the game the day before (the 12th), and the team lost. Will Ryu Hyun-jin be able to surpass ‘the best pitcher in active play’ and achieve victory?
Ryu Hyun-jin will start the second game of the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) Texas Rangers home game, scheduled to be played at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 8:07 a.m. on the 13th (Korean time). Ryu Hyun-jin’s record this season is 3 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 2.65. He has pitched a total of 34 innings, giving up 28 hits, 8 walks, 28 strikeouts, and 15 runs (10 earned).
Ryu Hyun-jin stepped on the mound with his shoulders even heavier. Toronto is currently in 3rd place in the American League East Division with 80 wins and 64 losses, having played 144 games this season (as of the evening of the 12th). In fact, third place on Earth is certain. This is because the lead with the 1st place Baltimore Orioles (91 wins, 51 losses, 0.636 winning percentage) was 11.5 games, and the lead with the 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays (89 wins 56 losses, 0.614 win rate) was 8.5 games.
Toronto must aim to advance to the postseason through a wild card. The current American League wild card leader is the Tampa Bay Rays of the same district. Toronto is next, and I am very concerned as it is being chased for a long time. Texas (79 wins, 64 losses, 0.552 winning percentage), which they are facing this time, is closely following in third place. There is only a 0.5 game gap between them and Toronto. In addition, they are only one game behind the wild card 4th place Seattle Mariners (79 wins, 65 losses, 0.549 winning percentage). Currently, with Tampa Bay leading the way, there is a high possibility that two of the remaining three teams, including Toronto, Texas, and Seattle, will win the wild card.
◆ ‘Teammate’ Chris Bassett, who was unable to control his emotions, was the starting point of the crushing defeat the day before… Ryu Hyun-jin’s shoulders became even heavier.However, they ended up losing the first game of this important four-game series to Texas. Toronto lost 4-10 to Texas the day before. It was painful that Ryu Hyun-jin’s teammate Chris Bassett (34), who was the starting pitcher that day, suddenly became upset and was unable to control his emotions. The situation occurred in the top of the second inning when the team was tied 0-0. Bassett allowed a walk to leadoff hitter Mitch Garber. However, during this process, Bassett threw away the transmitter in his hand due to a pitch error. Exposing sensitive emotions as they are. After giving up a left-handed hit to Robbie Grossman, he followed up with a grounder to first base by Leody Taveras, but in the meantime, Garber, the runner on second base, reached third base. Jonah Haim struck out. In the process of continuing to deal with left-handed hitter Josh Smith, Taveras stole second base and became second and third base.
Afterwards, Garber, the runner on third base, began to gain a huge lead. Toronto third baseman Cavern Biggio left third base completely empty and took advantage of the opportunity to play shortstop to lead the team. However, upon seeing this, pitcher Bassett suddenly prepared to pitch from the mound and began rushing toward third base. Of course, since Garber was closer to third base than Bassett, he quickly slid and returned home. Bassett also came near the third base and stopped without tagging. In the end, with the third check failure and the out count not rising, a balk was declared. Garber, the runner on third base, hit home for free. As a result, Bassett’s inability to control his emotions led to the first goal being conceded. In the end, Bassett collapsed on this day with 9 hits (1 home run), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 5 runs in 5 ⅓ innings, and the team suffered a crushing defeat.
◆ Ryu Hyun-jin has his first face-off with Max Scherzer, the ‘best pitcher in the game’.It was a result of the game that forced Ryu Hyun-jin’s shoulders to feel heavy. If Ryu Hyun-jin is shaken and loses the game on the 13th, Toronto will lose the second wild card spot to Texas. In this case, Toronto may completely fall into a bad trend with consecutive losses. Ryu Hyun-jin’s starting opponent is Max Scherzer (39, Texas Rangers), a living legend in the major league who won three Cy Young Awards. This is the first time Ryu Hyun-jin faces Scherzer as a starter since entering the major league. Scherzer is called ‘the best pitcher in history’. Since debuting in the major leagues in 2008, Scherzer has appeared in 456 games in his personal career, recording 213 wins, 108 losses, 3,365 strikeouts and an earned run average of 3.15. In particular, he was at his peak by winning the American League Cy Young Award in the 2013 season and the National League Cy Young Award in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, respectively. This season, Scherzer has 12 wins, 6 losses, and an average ERA of 3.91. At the end of July, he moved from the New York Mets to the Texas Rangers through a trade. With the New York Mets, he only recorded 9 wins, 4 losses, and an ERA of 4.01, but after moving the team to Texas, he improved to 3 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 3.63. His hitting percentage also dropped from 0.240 to 0.175. However, in the game against Houston on the 7th, which was his previous appearance, he lost the game with 6 hits (3 home runs), 2 walks, 4 strikeouts, and 7 runs (7 earned) in 3 innings.
◆ ‘5 innings in 6 out of 7 games’ Ryu Hyun-jin, will he break the ‘6 innings’ barrier this time against the Texas powerhouse?There is also interest in whether Ryu Hyun-jin will overcome the 5-inning barrier and succeed in pitching 6 innings. Ryu Hyun-jin, who underwent elbow ligament fusion surgery (Tommy John surgery) in June of last year, devoted himself to rehabilitation for about a year and two months before returning to action against Baltimore on the 2nd of last month. At the time, he was a losing pitcher with 9 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 4 runs (4 earned) in 5 innings, but in his second appearance against Cleveland on August 8, he pitched well with no hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and no runs in 4 innings. did. Since then, Ryu Hyun-jin has completely regained his former glory, pitching with 2 earned runs or less in all 6 games. However, out of the 7 games in which Ryu Hyun-jin appeared, he only pitched 5 innings in 6 games (the remaining game was 4 innings), and has yet to pitch 6 innings.
The reason Ryu Hyun-jin plays short innings is clear. Ryu Hyun-jin is a pitcher who has just returned to action after a rehabilitation period. Therefore, thorough management is necessary. Coach Schneider, the head coach, is also strictly managing Ryu Hyun-jin’s pitch count. Ryu Hyun-jin has ’80 pitches’ (against Baltimore on August 2) – 52 pitches (against Cleveland on August 8) – 86 pitches (against Chicago Cubs on August 14) – 83 pitches (against Cincinnati on August 21) – 70 He threw 76 pitches (against Cleveland on August 27th), 76th pitch (against Colorado on September 2nd), and 77th pitch (against Oakland on September 7th). He is hitting between a minimum of 70 pitches and a maximum of 86 pitches per 5 innings. However, if Ryu Hyun-jin silences opposing batters with a small number of pitches from the beginning of the game, he is expected to be able to last longer inning. Recently, American media outlet Bleacher Report claimed, “If Ryu Hyun-jin continues to play only 5 innings during the remainder of the season, he will not be evaluated as a starting resource worth more than 5 starters. The possibility of securing a multi-year contract is also small,” as if to show this. It can also be reversed. In addition, MLB.com praised Ryu Hyun-jin, saying, “Ryu Hyun-jin is different from other pitchers who have undergone elbow ligament fusion surgery. He has a sparkling ERA of 2.65.”
Attention is focused on whether Ryu Hyun-jin will be able to overcome Texas’ hard-hitting line. Texas boasts a team batting average (0.267) that is first in the American League and second in the Major League. Additionally, the team has 202 home runs, ranking 7th in the major leagues. The team OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) is 0.793, ranking 3rd in the major leagues. Among batters, Corey Seager, who worked together with Ryu Hyun-jin during his time with the LA Dodgers, boasts an overwhelming record of 0.337 batting average, 30 home runs, 88 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.049. In addition, Marcus Semiend also shows firepower with a batting average of 0.281, 24 home runs, 87 RBI, and an OPS of 0.826. In fact, Texas seems to have no place to avoid, with all nine of its starting fielders hitting double-digit home runs. Still, Ryu Hyun-jin has always proven his worth with his experience against such heavy hitters. Although his average fastball velocity this season is 88.4 miles (approximately 142.3 km), which is in the bottom 2% of the league, he is showing off his versatility in pitching based on his unique ability to control speed. Ryu Hyun-jin’s best weapons are the ultra-slow curve that completely steals his opponent’s timing and the change-up that drops the angle significantly and induces a missed swing. Will Ryu Hyun-jin be able to wash away all concerns and confidently achieve his fourth win?