‘Korean Monster’ Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays) is once again challenging for his fourth win of the season.

On the 4th, the Toronto team revealed the starting pitchers for the 2023 Major League Baseball (MLB) three-game away game against the Oakland Athletics, which will be held at Ring Central Coliseum in Oakland, California, USA from the 5th to 7th (Korean time). Jose Berrios and Chris Bassett will appear as starters in the games on the 5th and 6th, respectively, and Ryu Hyun-jin will face JP Sears as a starter on the 7th.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who underwent rehabilitation for over a year after elbow ligament fusion surgery, improved his practical sense through four actual pitching appearances and completed his preparations for his return to the big leagues by going through the final bullpen pitching.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who announced his return to the home game against the Baltimore Orioles on the 2nd of last month, took the loss in his first appearance, allowing 9 hits (1 home run), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 4 runs in 5 innings, but gradually regained stability after that. In particular, he won three consecutive games as a starter, from the Chicago Cubs game on August 14th to the Cincinnati Reds game on the 21st and the Cleveland Guardians game on the 27th.

Ryu Hyun-jin lived up to the team’s expectations by demonstrating his true value at Coors Field, the ‘graveyard of pitchers’. He started in the away game against the Colorado Rockies on the 2nd and allowed 4 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 runs in 5 innings before handing over the mound to the bullpen.

Meanwhile, Ryu Hyun-jin seemed to be struggling at Coors Field. Before today’s game, his Coors Field career records were 6 games, 26⅔ innings, 1 win, 4 losses, and an average ERA of 7.09, with a whopping 8 home runs. His overall performance against Colorado was not very good, with 15 games, 78 innings, 5 wins, 7 losses, an ERA of 4.85, and 16 home runs.

However, on this day, Ryu Hyun-jin completely overcame the inferiority against Colorado and the Coors Field nightmare. In particular, Ryu Hyun-jin’s unique crisis management ability stood out, as he escaped the risk of conceding a goal even in an unfavorable ball decision. Canadian media ‘Sportsnet’ applauded his pitching, saying, “Ryu Hyun-jin’s 2 runs in 5 innings at Coors Field is equivalent to 7 scoreless innings (at another stadium).”

Now, with Ryu Hyun-jin looking for his fourth win of the season, he will appear as a starting pitcher after a four-day break for the first time since the start of this season. There is a slight difference from the previous mounds where he started after resting for 5 or 6 days. However, Ryu Hyun-jin was replaced after throwing only 76 pitches in the game against Colorado, so the physical burden is not that great.

Oakland, which Hyun-Jin Ryu faces, is not a very difficult team, like his previous opponent, Colorado. This season, they are at the bottom of the American League West Division with 42 wins and 95 losses (0.307). The team batting average and OPS are 0.224 and 0.670, respectively, which are the lowest in the American League.

However, Oakland has improved its batting ability since the four-game series against the Chicago White Sox on the 25th of last month, and the batters’ condition is not bad enough to achieve a sweep win in the three-game series against the LA Angels on the 2nd to 4th. Among them, it seems necessary to be on guard against outfielder Brent Luker, who is showing off his slugging ability by hitting 23 home runs this season.

If there is a variable compared to previous appearances, it is that starting catcher Danny Jansen is listed on the injured list (IL) due to a fracture of the middle finger of his right hand, making it impossible for him to work with Ryu Hyun-jin for the time being. It appears that either Alejandro Kirk or Tyler Heineman will keep the homeroom instead.스포츠토토

In particular, Ryu Hyun-jin made big and small changes in his velocity by showing various pitches such as curves, change-ups, and cut fastballs in addition to fastballs in his six appearances this season. It remains to be seen whether Ryu Hyun-jin’s strengths will be displayed even in the absence of the starting catcher.

This is an important three-game series not only for Ryu Hyun-jin but also for Toronto. Toronto, ranked 4th in the American League wild card, achieved two consecutive winning series, following the Washington Nationals game on the 29th and 31st of last month, and the Colorado Rockies game on the 2nd and 4th, approaching the Houston Astros, which ranked 3rd in the wild card, by 1.5 games. As the value of one win increases as there are not many games left, attention is being paid to whether Toronto will be able to accumulate wins against Oakland as well.