“I wasn’t really sure.”
Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays) smiled with satisfaction after completing his third rehabilitation appearance. It was because he was satisfied with both innings and pitch count management, which he took as the most important tasks for a big league appearance.메이저사이트
Ryu Hyun-jin started the 2023 Minor League Toledo Bird Hens (Triple A affiliated with the Detroit Tigers) held at Sailon Field in Buffalo, New York, USA on the 16th (Korean time) and had 3 hits (1 home run) in 5 innings, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts and 1 strikeout. I fought hard with a mistake. After starting his rehabilitation, he passed 5 innings, the basic duty of a starting pitcher, for the first time, and the team won 8-2 and even took his first triple-A individual victory.
Toronto’s target number of pitches presented in this appearance was 65. It could be seen that it was just before going to the 80-100 pitches suggested by Toronto general manager Ross Atkins as a big league call-up standard.
Ryu Hyun-jin threw 58 balls until the 4th inning. He had to finish up to the 5th inning and meet the requirements for a winning pitcher, he had to handle 3 batters with around 7 balls, but Ryu Hyun-jin did this. He handled 2 consecutive batters with 3 balls as a fly ball to center field, and struck out the last batter Andrew Knapp with 5 balls on a swing. Although it exceeded just one ball, it was a scene where Ryu Hyun-jin’s ability to manage the number of pitches stood out.
Ryu Hyun-jin gave great meaning to the last 8 balls and was satisfied. In an interview with the Canadian media ‘Toronto Star’ after the game, he said, “It was a situation where I was really unsure. I had to throw in line with the 65th pitch.
The Toronto Star said, ‘Ryu Hyun-jin threw a fastball (9 out of 18) in the first inning, and started to rely on the cutter a little more in the second inning. He had less velocity, but he caught strikes with regularity,’ he analyzed.
Regarding this, Ryu Hyun-jin calmly said, “I didn’t throw it intentionally. You have to mix the pitches when you throw the ball. You can’t throw the same pattern for every hitter. So later, I had to change the ball mix.”
He was even more satisfied with his excellent performance in the Triple A game, which is the highest level in the minor leagues. Previously, Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound in the Rookie League on the 5th and the Minor League Single A game on the 10th to check his sense of the game.
Ryu Hyun-jin expressed, “I’m really happy because I threw at a slightly higher level. Now I think I can focus on what I need a little more. It feels good to be executing as planned.”
Ryu Hyun-jin underwent Tommy John surgery in June last year and has been undergoing rehabilitation for about 13 months. Ryu Hyun-jin is consistently making good pitches in the minor league real-life inspection phase, the last gateway to his return to the big leagues.
Local media in the United States and Canada all reported on the same day, “It seems that Ryu Hyun-jin’s return to the big leagues is really close.” Hyun-Jin Ryu expects to join Toronto soon if his physical condition remains intact after appearing in three more Triple-A games, if there are many, and if there are as few as one. It seems very soon that we will see Ryu Hyun-jin on the mound in the big leagues again.