Ryu accepts his new role in rotation
Former ace OK with being No. 3 or No. 4 in what looks like a formidable group
DUNEDIN, FLA. Hyun Jin Ryu has gone from ace to probably No. 3 in the Blue Jays’ starting rotation, possibly No. 4.
To which he’s said: “Sang-gwan eobs-eo.” Or maybe “Geugeon-jung yohaji anh-a.” (Our Korean is a bit rusty.)
To wit: “It doesn’t matter.” Adding: “The order isn’t important.”
Which is mostly true. But the southpaw from Incheon, a splashy $80-million (U.S.) acquisition three years ago, must surely feel a twinge of rue dropping down the chops scale.
That is largely due to a marquee rotation that now features José Berríos, Kevin Gausman and Alex Manoah, at least the first two supplanting Ryu, though manager Charlie Montoyo has yet to confirm how his starters will roll come April 8. However, it’s impossible to ignore that Ryu had a most inconsistent 2021, his worst full season as a major-leaguer.
He had a career high 14 wins in 31 starts but also posted his highest ERA, 4.37, over a full season while striking out about two fewer batters per nine innings than in 2020, when he finished third in American League Cy Young Award voting. His year’s continental divide ran through the all-star break: 8-5 record with a 3.56 ERA in 17 starts beforehand; 6-5 and a 5.50 ERA afterward.
Ryu finally made his spring debut on the hill Friday at TD Ballpark against the visiting Tigers. It didn’t start well — and that too scarcely signifies at this point — with Ryu knocked around by a leadoff home run, a single, a double and a single before settling down and retiring seven straight, with two strikeouts and no walks over three innings on his 35th birthday.
Of greater importance to Ryu was that he comfortably reached 41 pitches, 28 for strikes.
“There was a pitch count I wanted to get to, which I was able to accomplish. In that first inning, I did give up some damage but I was able to throw strikes and I did everything that I wanted to do today.”
That pitch tally left Ryu pleased. “I feel like I’m in a better spot than how I finished last year.”
Between then and now has been an oft tortuous route for Ryu. Besides testing positive for COVID in February, which required a sevenday self-quarantine, the protracted baseball lockout had him twiddling his thumbs in Korea as five months passed, the longest stay in his home country since he arrived in Major League Baseball in 2013.
Original plans to return to North America were cancelled and Ryu joined the camp of his former Korean team — the Hanwha Eagles, with whom he had been a franchise icon — to train, focusing throughout the baseball stoppage on arm care and exercises to strengthen his core. He didn’t step foot on Florida soil until March 16.
While he was hit hard early Friday, Ryu nevertheless found his pitch groove.
“I like to go through my whole pitch repertoire in different spring training games. Today, I felt like I used most of my pitches. The cutter and slider weren’t as good as I wanted but everything feels fine.”
Recognizing what had thrown him off in the second half last season — basically, leaving too many pitches over the heart of the plate — Ryu addressed the issue while still overseas. “I was able to make the adjustments that were needed,” he said.
And that gobsmacking starter rotation? Ryu couldn’t be more delighted, wherever he’s slotted.
“It’s just going to be up to me. If I can do what I’m supposed to do, I think we’re going to have a really good year.”
On the road back
David Phelps was sending kisses to his four kids, standing on the walkway overlooking the bullpen.
That Phelps could even bend his arm for an air-kiss is an accomplishment after a ghastly injury last May when, while warming up in Oakland, he tore the lat sheer off the bone. “One pitch. It felt like I got shot.”
The surgery, 10 months to the day Friday, was followed by six weeks in a sling and then careful rehab, his entire season lost. “They had to go in, find it, put two anchors in, reattach it,” he said.
It was similar in procedure to Tommy John surgery, which the former starter has also undergone.
The 35-year-old reliever signed a minor-league contract with Toronto in November and was invited to spring training, his third go-round with the organization.
“One of the benefits of being here last year is these guys were clear with my rehab,” Phelps said following his first relief appearance at camp in Toronto’s 8-4 loss to Detroit. “They were along for the whole journey. They put together my program. It was a natural fit.”
A clean inning and no discomfort was better than Phelps’ backfield game appearance Monday when he was struck by a ball in the hand, still angrily red.
“The biggest thing for me is how I bounce back after the outing. But also making sure I get my pitches in the spots that I want. By the time April rolls around, I want to have my pitches in the lanes they need to be in.”
Asked where he hopes to be a fortnight from now, when camp draws to a close, Phelps answered promptly.
“On the roster.”