After a grueling rehabilitation, Ryu Hyun-jin, 36, of the Toronto Blue Jays, is giving the green light to return.
Ryu started a home game against the Single-A Tampa Taftons (affiliated with the New York Yankees) at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, on Tuesday (June 10). It was his second rehab start, and he pitched four innings of three-hit ball, striking out four and walking none.
What the Toronto reporters noticed was that Ryu’s control was still there. “He threw 37 pitches for 27 strikes, with his fastball reaching 88.4 mph (142 km/h),” said Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, a Canadian outlet. His velocity isn’t the same as it was in his second rehab start, but the near-perfect command of his pitches made it clear that Ryu is back.
At this rate, he could make his big league debut in July. Nicholson-Smith said, “The timetable for pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery is usually imprecise, but there’s no doubt that Ryu is on the right track,” and The Athletic’s Caitlin McGrath said, “The process is good.”
Toronto general manager Ross Atkins explained that Ryu needs to build up to throwing 80 to 100 pitches before he can make the big league roster. According to local media in the U.S. and Canada, Ryu will make two more minor league appearances before being named to the big league roster if he meets the above conditions.
Ryu has been rehabbing for about 14 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. As a veteran in his late 30s and in the final year of a four-year, $80 million contract with Toronto, there were some who didn’t expect to see him pitch in a Toronto uniform again.
But Ryu was Ryu was Ryu. He’s been known to go the extra mile, losing about 30 pounds (13 kilograms) to get back into shape. Ryu explained that he basically did cardio and weight training and stopped eating late at night, and the weight came off naturally. 오래된 토토사이트
When Ryu first started pitching out of the bullpen in May, he expressed his desire to join the team right after the All-Star break. He’s well on his way to achieving that goal.
MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson has been following Ryu’s rehabilitation and said, “He doesn’t need to get his fastball up to 100 mph. That would help, but it could be a challenge for some pitchers coming off Tommy John surgery. Ryu’s changeup is the most important, and it will be the key to his return. The changeup is also a challenge considering the strain on his elbow, but he’s doing a great job of navigating all of these steps.”
“Ryu has a 4.55 ERA in 37 starts since 2021. He’s battling the odds and the clock, but he’ll get a chance to write his own comeback story in the final year of his contract.”
Toronto recently signed Alejandro Mano