The MRI outcomes got here again for Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu, and the analysis is alarming. He has suffered a forearm pressure and elbow irritation, supervisor Charlie Montoyo advised reporters (together with Keegan Matheson of MLB.com).
Toronto didn’t present a lot else on Ryu’s timetable. Montoyo stated he’d be out “a number of weeks,” and he’s slated to endure additional testing to find out the severity of the difficulty. A forearm pressure analysis is all the time alarming given how usually that terminology is a precursor to Tommy John surgical procedure, however there’s no indication that’s on the desk presently.
Ryu is not any stranger to well being considerations, having hung out on the injured checklist in each full season — excluding the shortened 2020 schedule — since 2013. He’s handled a litany of points, however probably the most alarming was a mix of shoulder surgical procedure and elbow tendinitis that price him nearly all the 2015-16 seasons. Ryu’s newer accidents had been principally lower-half associated, however he hit the IL earlier this 12 months on account of forearm irritation.
The 35-year-old returned from that bout of irritation after a number of weeks, however he made simply 4 begins earlier than once more coping with discomfort. Ryu suggested that his newest difficulty felt just like the early-season drawback, and the Jays positioned him on the 15-day IL yesterday.
Ryu is within the third season of a five-year contract. He was distinctive in 2020, posting a 2.69 ERA with robust peripherals by means of 67 innings. Whereas he made 31 begins and soaked up 167 frames final 12 months, he wasn’t as efficient on a price foundation. Ryu posted a 4.37 mark, persevering with to reveal robust management and ground-ball numbers however watching his strikeout proportion fall from 26.2% to twenty.4%. That price has dropped to a effectively below-average 14.2% this season, whereas Ryu’s ERA has spiked to five.33 over six outings.
It stays to be seen when Ryu would possibly be capable to reclaim his rotation spot in Toronto. Within the interim, swingman Ross Stripling will step into the beginning 5 alongside Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi. That’s nonetheless a robust group, significantly with Manoah and Gausman performing brilliantly. Stripling has began 5 of his 13 outings this season, posting a 4.22 ERA with a wonderful 54.5% ground-ball proportion.
