JUNE 18: Hyun Jin Ryu underwent successful Tommy John surgery, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet (via Twitter). The typical recovery time is 12-to-18 months, meaning Ryu could miss all of the 2023 season, as well as the rest of this year.
JUNE 14: Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu will undergo elbow surgery, general manager Ross Atkins informed reporters (including Scott Mitchell of TSN Sports). It’s not yet known whether Ryu will require a full Tommy John reconstructive surgery or a partial repair — it’s not uncommon for the extent of the ligament damage to be unclear until the surgeon has actually begun the procedure — but he’ll miss the remainder of the 2022 season in either case.
The former All-Star has been on the injured list for the past two weeks after being diagnosed with a forearm strain and elbow inflammation. It was his second arm-related stint of this season, as he also missed a few weeks between April and May with forearm inflammation. This stay will unfortunately last significantly longer than the first, as Ryu won’t be able to avoid going under the knife this time around.
Ryu has dealt with some arm issues in the past, missing most of the 2015-16 seasons while a member of the Dodgers. He underwent surgery to repair a labrum tear in his shoulder in May 2015, with that injury costing him the entirety of the season. He battled elbow tendinitis the following year, making only one MLB start before being shut down. Ryu returned to pitch in 25 games in 2017, though, and while he’s had a handful of IL stints in the years since then, he’d mostly avoided any arm concerns until recently.
After a 2019 campaign in which Ryu tossed 182 2/3 innings of 2.32 ERA ball, the Jays signed him to a four-year, $80MM free agent deal. Ryu was brilliant during the first season of that contract, taking all 12 turns through the rotation during the shortened campaign and posting a 2.69 ERA. His results took a rather notable step back last year, as he managed a 4.37 mark through 169 frames. Ryu stayed healthy aside from a minor neck issue in September, but he looked more the part of a strike-throwing innings eater than a top-of-the-rotation force.
The 35-year-old never seemed to get comfortable this season, perhaps as a result of his battles with forearm discomfort. He worked 27 innings, pitching to a 5.67 ERA with a personal-low 14.2% strikeout rate. Ryu also posted the worst swinging strike mark of his career (7.6%), and the UCL injury will cut his season short after just six starts.
A specific timeline for his recovery won’t be known until after he goes under the knife, but it’s possible he’s already thrown his final pitch in a Toronto uniform. The South Korean hurler is due the balance of his $20MM salary this season and under contract for $20MM next year, the final season of his deal. If he were to undergo a full reconstructive surgery, it’s possible he’ll miss the entirety of the 2023 campaign.
In the nearer term, the win-now Blue Jays will have to move forward with their rotation alternatives. It’s still a quality group, with offseason signee Kevin Gausman and second-year star Alek Manoah posting excellent numbers. José Berríos has struggled but isn’t in any danger of losing his rotation spot given his track record, while Toronto signed the enigmatic Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year contract over the winter. Swingman Ross Stripling has stepped into the final spot and performed well through seven starts, although he’s coming off a rough 2020-21 stretch.
Atkins acknowledged Ryu’s injury makes it likelier they’ll bolster the group via trade this summer (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). He unsurprisingly didn’t tip his hand as to whether they’d look for a stable back-end type or prioritize a higher-impact arm like Oakland’s Frankie Montas or Cincinnati’s Luis Castillo. Toronto should have the payroll flexibility and urgency to at least check in on a broad range of possibilities. The Jays enter play Tuesday in possession of the American League’s top Wild Card spot but eight games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
That absolutely sucks
Addition by subtraction, he was brutal last year.
Except he wasn’t
He had a 3.56 era across 17 starts in the 1st half.
His nickname is the Monster, which he probably acquired at the free buffets he attended. 21 wins in 3 years (granted 2020 is not really a full season), I’m not sure I would be happy if I was a Toronto fan. Glad it’s not on my dime.
The contract was terrible on its own merits. But Toronto has a huge Asian population and could the could have marketed him properly if not for Covid and not being able to play at home for nearly two years. I don’t think anyone was expecting a productive ‘year 4’ of the contract anyway.
Toronto’s Japanese population is not that big at all. Your comment lacks sense
Never sign free agents especially SP for more than a year if your a non playoff team. That’s the rule. If you stick to it you can’t get burned.
Keep talking yourselves into these multiple year contracts though. Had to give him the extra year so he’d sign, dumbest logic ever.
Lol bro if you had a team everyone would hate you and you’d be in last place every year.
Each and every one of your posts is a further indictment of how little you understand baseball. Just because you say it with such conviction doesn’t mean anything
might be right
Without him the Jays don’t make the 2020 playoffs. Also don’t win 90+ last year.
Dustylambchop I’ve forgot more about baseball than you’ll ever know.
There’s a reason why the the brilliant Ivy League GMs think the way I do. That’s you the fans say stupid BS like the owners are colluding.
Given how many of these contracts fail I don’t know why you think a team would be in last place if they didn’t sign free agents to muti year contracts.
Every team made the playoffs in 2020 so
Lol your second sentence is the reason you’re an absolute joke. Name me one GM, Ivy League or not, with a real budget, that has not signed FA to a Multi year deal.
Yah that’s what I thought, crawl back under your rock
How’s that working for the Angels?
The angels haven’t paid a pitcher 20M in over half a decade. What a lazy comp
@McCourt- the Halos just paid $21m to Thor.
Tough, he was an absolute gamer. He will be missed! Godspeed to him on his recovery. Wonder if the Jays can stay afloat. Hope so, along with the White Sox and Padres, they’re an exciting young bunch to watch.
With Manoah, Gausman, and Berrios I think the Jays rotation is in nice shape. #4/5 are challenging but Stripling has done great so far and Kikuchi … well … he gives a LH arm to the rotation and has potential (about all I can say that is good about him right now).
Not even mad…hasn’t been very good for us. Stripling/Pearson get a shot here now though for sure.
Because he’s hurt. What’s your point?
His point is the Jay’s are a better team without him.
That’s a downright wrong take
Yea in I’d behave to agree the only good news is maybe they acquire a good starter now this year
That is a blow for the starting staff. Regardless if he hasn’t been the best so far.
Wonder if we have seen the last of Ryu. Depending on the procedure he may be out untill 2024 when he will be 37.
Agreed. If this ends up requiring TJS, he’ll be out until 2024 for sure and he will be quite old for a comeback, but I’m sure teams will be interested in signing him if he wants to continue to play and the price point is right. It would most likely be an incentive-laden contract at that point in his career. While Ryu is no Verlander, it’s amazing how well Verlander is performing post TJS at age 39, so it’s not out of the question that he could come back strong at age 37.
But he’s a lefty
Which under the new three hitter rule is rendered moot. Gone are the days of the Terry Mulholland’s, Jeff Fassero’s, Arthur Rhodes’, and Tony Fossas’, and Jesse Orosco’s playing til their mid-to-late 40’s facing one batter per game
As a starting pitcher it does indeed matter as every rotation needs *that* innings eating lefty
I appreciate that “he’s a lefty” was interpreted as, ‘he can become a LOOGY.’
@Crab I was confused by their comment as well
What a bummer. Ryu’s such a talented pitcher — unfortunate that injuries have hampered him so much over the years.
Unfortunately, Ryu never took body conditioning all that serious and that is catching up to him in his mid-30’s. Arm issues aside, he’s had a lot of non-arm injuries too that can be attributed to less than ideal conditioning and overall fitness. He is (was) still an amazing pitcher despite those shortcomings. Lance Lynn had it happen to him this year as well. Bartolo seems to be the only starting pitcher who pitched well at a very late age and stayed ‘healthy’ despite a less than optimal physique. All of the other guys (Verlander, Scherzer, Rich Hill, Jaime Moyer, Wainwright, Nolan Ryan, etc.) stayed in great shape and extended their careers quite well into their very late 30’s and 40’s.
I’m sorry but that’s all conjecture. We have no idea if body conditioning made any difference.
David wells did A-okay also.
Or if Ryu was truly in poor shape. I could smoke a pack a day and be 185lbs and “look” just fine.
Mickey Lolich wasn’t bad either!
CC feels left out.
How in the ever-blazing world could you leave out Big SEXY when talking about the portly pitchers into their 40s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Its not conditioning IMO. The human arm was never designed to throw a baseball a million miles per hour over and over again. Look, pitchers today take care of themselves better than ever, and have the benefit of science and pitch counts. Yet there are more injuries than ever. They throw too hard, first of all, and they often throw lots of sliders, which puts undue stress on their arms. Remember when pitchers used to “rear back and get a little extra” when in tough situations? Now they all throw max effort on every pitch. All that said, back to my initial point – one can do everything right and still end up going under the knife. While there are things they can do to help improve their odds, there is nothing foolproof.
Ryu had already undergone Tommy John Surgery before starting his pro career, and also had his labrum repaired while with the Dodgers, so I don’t know if conditioning can be blamed here.
Not here to say whether or not he took conditioning seriously, I have no idea, but it’s worth mentioning he’s already had significant arm issues in the past.
Thanks for helping kick off the rebuild Mr Ryu. Enjoy your time back in Korea with family
Yes, Ryu was one of the first big pieces that Toronto added to their core to transition them from a sub .500 club to serious playoff contenders. I’m sure his success and happiness in Toronto helped the team acquire/add additional veterans who have turned this team into World Series contenders. They just can’t afford to lose another starter out of their rotation now that Ryu is done for the season.
How many teams can afford to lose a starter?
Facts Dorothy it’s exactly what happened. That first year for the jays he was great. Definitely helped the jays become relevant once again.
good luck w the recovery. you were a good jay.
If Berrios pitches like he should, the Jays could still have one of the best 1-3 in baseball with Gausman, Manoah and Berrios. Losing any starting pitcher hurts, but the Jays could still have a strong rotation. Not a Jays fan, but looking at that team on paper, I’m not sure they know just how good they are. Like 92-93 good.
Yep, we just need to add a bullpen ace and we can legit win it this year.
This rebuild just isn’t working out. Time to sell high on a bunch of players and try again.
What? They’re looking very good, bats are finally heating up. This team will rock
Not without pitching it won’t……and going out on the trade market at the deadline will cost them…..
They just lost their sixth best starter at the moment. They have pitching and will only upgrade it further.
“not without pitching” <– Berrios, Manoah, Gausman and apparently now Stripling beg to differ.
How do the “upgrade it further”? There’s no old guy available to overpay that I know of.
When signed, he certainly wasn’t considered their “6th best starter”….he was supposed to be their #1 or 2…….given his problems early in the season, shouldn’t we be sure that the Jays management still considered him their “horse” in the rotation so no matter how you spin this, its a major setback for the Jays rotation as the season progresses….lets see if the other guys in that rotation can hold up in his absence.
And coming into this season, he was slotted as their number 4. I don’t think you follow the team too closely if you considered him their horse entering this season. I’m sure they’re going to be in on starting pitching anyways during the season. They have the farm system to pretty much bring in any pitcher they want at the deadline. It’s really not a big loss unless somebody gets injured in the meantime.
As a Yankee fan, I wish I could agree, but the Jays have a .600 WP and they’re 4.5 games up in the Wild Card standings. There’s zero reasons for them to sell off now. Ryu has pitched only six games and the Jays staff owns a 3.55 ERA.
Also tied for third most wins in the AL.
@ fink ployd yes that’s true
but now things have changed.
kikuchi is less than reliable and unable to get out of the 4th
that leaves the jays a 4 man rotation of strip berrios gausman and manoah
there are still 100 games left to play
like the article and JD said a move is coming the question is whether it will be back end or impact.
Yeah, stick a fork in the Jays. They’re done. :rollseyes:
What are you talking about? Third best record in the AL, 12 games over .500, and they’ve won 14 of their last 18.
Think you failed to pick up the sarcasm there. Thought the rolleyes was a giveaway. Reading is hard
I want to see the Blue Jays buy at the trade deadline. Buy….Dan Vogelbach. Then, when he hits a HR, he can go full Tommy Boy after his round-tripper and sing, “Fat Guy in a Little Coat..”
Wonder what it would cost to get Castillo from the Reds. ? Give ‘em Moreno , Groshans and mix or add Tiedman, none of the core, no Gurriel , if could sign Castillo give more. Tiedman is hyped. Only in A ball. Perfect trade fodder when hype is heavy I’m Open
The jays are not going to give them Moreno..maybe Kirk in a package
Hard to imagine them trading kirk at this point.
The most likely man out is Jano
As much as im pro Jano he doesn’t get you Castillo.
Kirk 100% gets the conversation started today though
What else? Not Moreno anymore as hrs being talked about as the pairing to Vlad
If I hear Vladdy and Gabby one more time….lol
Neither Kirk nor Moreno starts the conversation. The Reds already have a catcher better than either of them.
I wonder if the Jays even need to trade for a starter? Stripling has been excellent. And even if he stumbles, the Jays can slowly-but-surely stretch out Pearson. Come playoff time, you don’t even need a fifth starter. Better to invest in the back-end of an already strong bullpen, IMO. When they signed Ryu, something like this was not unexpected.
I think they do, but I don’t think it’s a high impact starter.
I’m guessing more of insurance for injury but someone that could help in the pen or to move Stripling out.
Sure seems to be a huge rash of TJ surgery this year already
Get ya TJ surgery! Hot and Fresh. Best TJ surgery in the country.
We found ElAttaches MLBTR account
Sure seems like we say, “Sure seems like a huge rash of TJS this year,” every year. Doesn’t make it wrong though.
This is why every single pitcher throws like it’s his last mound every time he pitches.
Won’t be Mahle…..unvaxxed, but maybe Castillo
You would have to think Oakland would be ready to sell off further, perhaps the jays fill their soda machine for the rest of the year.
Knowing Shatkins it will probably be someone’s 4/5 type with control that they see something in….which is kinda all they need. Give Dr. Walker a new Patient.
Somehow I saw this coming…
Blake Snell would look good in blue.
Love,
Padres fan
I’d still trade for him just in case
Not the end of the world for the Jays. You never want to lose anyone, but he is basically their #5 at this point. All they need to do is to trade for someone that can give them 100 IPs in 20 starts, with an ERA of under 5.00. No reason to overpay here.
Insane how many surgeries there have been so far this year..
Well, let’s hope it’s just a two-season-ending surgery not a career-ending one.
Is it time for The Blue Jays to go after Frankie Montas? Skip the bandaid fixes of over working Ross Springer and his dipsy doodle breaking balls and certainly don’t rush prospect talent when only plugging for a wild card chance.
Not a bad idea but what would be the cost for a guy like Montas and how does that affect the franchise forward…..They aren’t going to take Biggio and a bucket of balls for him……How deep is Toronto’s farm, or are all the wunderkinds already up…..Oakland isn’t going to accept anything except a top return for him, especially since they might sense a degree of desperation on Toronto’s part…….
Dammm….. so sad!! I like this guy. Get better
This has to suck for Blue Jay fans. Ryu was supposed to lead the rotation but his only full season was league average though, ironically, the most value he gave them was his durability for that 2019 season. This contract is very unsalvageable.