Ryu Not Great, Not Terrible In First Start With Blue Jays

Hyun Jin Ryu tossed five innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits.

TORONTO – It’s been surreal to see Hyun Jin Ryu back with the Blue Jays.

Last June, Ryu, then 35 years old, got the news his lingering elbow discomfort required Tommy John surgery. Devastated, the left-hander disappeared from the spotlight as Toronto’s season chugged along. But behind the scenes, he was rehabbing, determined to make it back for a few more months in The Show.

When Ryu re-emerged at Rogers Centre earlier this season, he looked fantastic. Visibly trimmed down and in great spirits, the South Korean pushed the timeline on his estimated 12- to 18-month timeline. By July, he was in Low-A Dunedin for a rehab game. After that, it was a trip to Triple-A Buffalo at month’s end for the finishing touches.

Tuesday marked Ryu’s first major-league start since June 1, 2022, and while it didn’t go especially well (5 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 1 BB), it wasn’t a disaster either.

The visiting Orioles torched Ryu off the hop, starting with a blistering Adley Rutschman double on the first pitch of the ballgame. Baltimore ultimately plated three runs on five hits before the Blue Jays starter could escape the second inning. Ryu steadied things after that.

Ryu was a strike-throwing machine, landing 54 of 80 pitches for strikes through his five-plus innings of work. The command, however, came in waves. The Orioles ambushed Ryu’s middle-middle pitches in the first inning. From the third to the fifth, Ryu found his groove. He came out for the sixth, allowed a solo home run to Gunnar Henderson, and immediately headed back to the dugout.

There were still good moments. Ryu showed excellent poise to close out the fourth inning. With a man on third and two outs, the southpaw fired fastballs on the edges, but the count grew to 3-2 against Jorge Mateo. Ryu gambled with a breaking ball and got a lazy flyout to center, preventing the O’s lineup from turning over.

As was the case in ’21 and ’22, Ryu’s velocity will be something to monitor going forward. He topped out at 91 mph with the heater Tuesday — not bad for his first start — but regularly tossed fastballs in the zone at 87-88 mph.

A lot was going on Tuesday, between Bo Bichette’s injury and the rush of the trade deadline window, and Ryu’s performance added another interesting wrinkle to the roster. He’s not perfect, but the 36-year-old will get plenty more opportunities as Toronto runs its six-man rotation deeper into August.