'He's Back To Himself': Vintage Ryu Leads Blue Jays To Victory

Hyun Jin Ryu pitched six shutout innings in the Blue Jays' 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Tyler Motter’s swing was uncomfortable to watch. The Reds’ third baseman was so early on the pitch he could only gawk as his barrel whiffed over Hyun Jin Ryu’s changeup.

The sequence was vintage Ryu—a perfectly located off-speed pitch on the outside corner, diving under a hopeless, flailing bat.

In his second start back from the injured list, the Blue Jays’ veteran lefty looked much more the man Toronto gave $80 million to in December 2019. Ryu wasn’t perfect, but for the second start in a row, he was effective.

"I mean, he's back to himself," manager Charlie Montoyo said after the game.

The 32-year-old lefty finished Friday’s outing with six shutout innings, striking out three, walking none, and allowing six hits. Building off a strong one-run start against the Rays last week, Ryu perfectly mixed his four pitches, dotting the changeup, surprising Reds hitters with the curveball, and finding new life on his fastball.

Location is part-and-parcel to Ryu’s success, finding the black of the zone and getting changeup chases just off the plate, but he needs some velocity too. Even though he sits around 90 MPH on the fastball, Ryu's added four-seam heat on Friday was especially encouraging.

In his start against the Athletics before heading to the IL, Ryu sat 88.7 MPH on his average fastball, giving up five earned runs in four innings pitched. On Friday, Ryu sat at 90.1 MPH and threw his hardest pitch of the season—92.9 MPH gas.

“91 is a lot better than 88, 89,” Montoyo said. “That just makes a big difference for him. At the end of the day, it’s the command, but that mile or two per hour helps a lot.”

Ryu still wasn't perfect on Friday, giving up some hard contact and doubles in five consecutive innings. But he navigated, interspersing the extra-base hits just enough to keep a zero on the scoreboard.

Five clean innings on 64 pitches earned Ryu another shot at the heart of Cincinnati's order in the sixth. After sitting the first two Reds down, he gave up the latest double to Joey Votto, a punched liner into right field.

Votto had a hand on his hip as he walked off second base, glancing to Ryu on the mound as the lefty began his delivery. With a full count and two outs, Ryu checked back on Votto as he hucked a changeup into the zone. Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer connected on the pitch, plastering it into left field, but it hung up just enough for the final out of Ryu’s start.

Five times Cincinnati batters strolled into scoring position, and five times Ryu left them there. Ryu isn't the first one to control a Reds lineup that entered Friday with the second-fewest runs in the National League and baseball’s worst OPS against left-handed pitching. 

In retrospect, Ryu's dominance against the Reds was as expected. But his starts lately have been anything but predictable. In his last 10 games (dating back to 2021), Ryu has four outings with five-plus runs against, and four starts of two ER or fewer. With the state of their rotation, the Blue Jays don't need dominance from Ryu, they just need reliability. On Friday, he delivered both.

"There's gonna be those times throughout the season that I'm going to struggle," Ryu said. "But at the same time, it's just part of the game. You have to overcome it and prepare for each outing."