Toronto Blue Jays' Hyun Jin Ryu pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in Toronto, on May 20.Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press
Hyun Jin Ryu isn’t likely to pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays again in 2022.
The left-hander from South Korea will have surgery to repair ligament damage in his left elbow, according to Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
It’s still uncertain whether the 35-year-old will need a full revision of the ulnar collateral ligament (Tommy John surgery) or a partial repair. That will become clear once the procedure begins, Atkins added.
The former all-star has been on the injured list since June 2 after being diagnosed with a forearm strain and elbow inflammation. He also missed a few weeks between April and May with an inflamed forearm.
He went 2-0 with a 5.67 earned-run average in six starts this season, his ninth in the majors.
Atkins said the best-case scenario would see Ryu returning sometime in 2023.
“We were hopeful that there was the potential of a conservative route and, you know, weighed the pros and cons of that and ultimately decided that it was best to move forward with the procedure,” Atkins said on Tuesday.
“He, I think, got to the point where he said, ‘I just want to compete as quickly as humanly possible,’ and felt like this was the best thing to do that,” Atkins continued. “He’s extremely disappointed that he won’t be part of this [team] in the near term.”
There was no particular moment where Ryu suffered an injury. Atkins said the condition is chronic – rather than acute – and has occurred over a long period of time.
Ryu made the all-star game in 2019, his last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a four-year, US$80-million contract with the Jays in December that year. He went 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, helping Toronto earn a wild-card spot in the expanded playoff format.
“He was one of the main reasons we made it to the playoffs in 2020, for sure,” manager Charlie Montoyo said, reflecting on Ryu’s impact on the Jays. “He’s such a good guy, everybody loves him, and he’s always smiling and having fun with everybody and I’ve never seen him in a bad mood. … A really good teammate.”
Reliever Ross Stripling has replaced him in the rotation, and Atkins said he feels very good about Stripling’s ability to impact the team “not just [for] weeks or months, but for the duration.”
“Yeah, I mean, he’s, he’s been awesome,” Atkins said of Stripling, who made his seventh start of the year Sunday in Detroit – allowing just one hit through six innings in his return to the rotation.
“The ability to impact a team as a starter, with the willingness and adaptability and flexibility to help in that swing role or leverage role or, being that depth starter for us on our 26-man roster, is unique,” Atkins said. “And he has handled that as well as anyone in the game.”