RYU KEEPS SECOND ‘START’ OF SPRING TRAINING IN-HOUSE
He’s the undisputed ace of the Blue Jays starting pitching staff, but Hyun-jin Ryu prefers not to think of himself in those terms.
There’s certainly an understated side to the big South Korean, who the Jays signed to a fouryear, Us$80-million deal in the off-season. On Wednesday, for example, he decided that the best course of action for his second “start” of spring training would be in the controlled environment of an intrasquad game.
So, rather than travelling down to Port Charlotte to face the Tampa Bay Rays, Ryu faced a group of minor-leaguers at TD Ballpark in the most realistic setting the Jays could create for him. With five projected opening-day position players on his side defensively and some minor-league umpires in place, Ryu threw 3.2 innings, allowed three hits and a walk and struck out seven, including the last four he faced.
By throwing 50 pitches and 32 of them for strikes, it may not have had the intensity of a regular game, but was a productive building block just the same and included a flash of midseason form.
“Definitely feel like we are on the right track,” Ryu said through interpreter Bryan Lee after the late-morning session. “I was able to increase the workload and I think I might make three more starts before opening day. I think within that time, I’ll be able to build enough pitch count and innings to be ready.”
It was Ryu’s suggestion to stay at home to get his work done as he wasn’t overly pleased with his first appearance.
The situation allowed him to work on all of his pitches and
Ryu certainly seemed to have some zip on his fastball. Plus, his signature change-up had the unaccomplished hitters he was facing swatting at air.
“Last outing, my command wasn’t as sharp as I’d hoped for, so I thought this would be a better setting to hone those skills,” Ryu said. “That was the main reason I decided to do a (simulated) game as opposed to a real game.”
As for the business of being an ace — and the certain assignment of opening-day starter — it will be new territory for Ryu, who operated in the shadow of superstar Clayton Kershaw with the Dodgers. The lefty claims he isn’t putting any stock into that, however.
“To be honest, I’m not really thinking about that in this way,” Ryu said. “I just think of it as I’m the first guy out in the rotation to step on the mound.”
Danny Jansen was behind the plate to catch Ryu on Tuesday and clearly liked what he saw, particularly from the pitcher’s vaunted change-up.
“It’s a great pitch, a really good pitch,” Jansen said. “The fact that he can throw that, it opens up the heater and the cutter. When you do that, you can’t keep that out of your head as a hitter.”