First pitch after 4 days of rest, will Ryu survive?
The Toronto Blue Jays’ Ryu Hyun-jin’s quest for four wins in Major League Baseball has many variables. How the veteran Ryu will respond to them will be the checkpoint.
Ryu is expected to start against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on April 7 (ET). He will be looking for his fourth win since returning from injury.
Ryu returned from elbow surgery with great concern. So far, he has exceeded expectations. While the after-effects of the surgery and his age have prevented him from performing as well as he did in his prime, he has shown that he can be a strong starter with his unique game management and pitches. Aside from his comeback against the Baltimore Orioles, Toronto has won five of his six starts. That’s because Ryu consistently goes five innings or so, setting the stage for victory.
In his last start against the Colorado Rockies on the 2nd, he didn’t get the win, but he pitched well and overcame Denver’s fear of the ‘Pitcher’s Graveyard’.
However, the Oakland game will be another test for Ryu. First of all, it’s a good thing that the A’s are the lowest-ranked team. The ballpark is also rated as pitcher-friendly.
However, there is a caveat. He’ll be pitching on his first four days of rest after returning from surgery. Toronto is giving him plenty of rest to make sure he doesn’t overdo it, but with a busy fall baseball schedule, they’re going with their normal rotation. For a player coming off a second elbow surgery and well into his mid-30s, an extra day of rest can make a big difference.
There’s also the catcher variable. Danny Jansen, Ryu’s designated hitter, suffered a fractured finger in the last game against Colorado. He won’t be able to share time with Ryu for a while. It’s important to keep in mind that Ryu’s pitching style, which requires him to strategize with opposing hitters as mentioned above, could cause confusion in the first game with an unfamiliar catcher.온라인바카
For Ryu, the pressure is on. The team is in a very tight race and every game is like a final, and losing to the last place team would be devastating. This psychological factor is something that Ryu will have to deal with.