TORONTO – The actual return on Toronto Blue Jays’ $ 80 million investment in Hyun Jin Ryu won’t look too pretty when it’s all said and done, but the signing was an absolutely vital step in helping the club get back on track.
Now that the 35-year-old left-hander’s season is over in 2022 as he is ready to undergo elbow surgery in the near future, the contract that GM Ross Atkins handed over to Ryu in December 2019 showed more than just a fan base, but also agents and players around the game that Jace has been serious about spending money to surround a dynamic home core with an impressive veteran talent.
Simply put, without hitting Ryu’s volley, who knows what things will look like in the next off-season. Ryu’s lure was the first piece of the puzzle, even if it wasn’t the most important thing.
But it is also undeniable that Ryu’s first season with Jace, spent in Buffalo during a pandemic, was the peak and the left did not enjoy much success in the past calendar year.
In early August last year, Ryu traveled with a 3.22 ERA and seemed to be upgrading his Cy Young nomination from 2020. But the wheels quickly parted and he finished with a 7.43 ERA in his last 10 starts and Jace fell one game. to the playoffs.
It didn’t look much better to start this season, as Ryu conceded 11 won runs in his first two starts before being on the list of forearm injuries.
This ominously turned into elbow pain when he returned, and then more inflammation of the forearm brought him back to the 15-day IL earlier this month.
Combine all this and this made the news on Tuesday that Ryu has damage to UCL and will be under the knife, not too shocking.
“He is extremely disappointed,” Atkins said Tuesday afternoon. “I think he just got to the point where he said I just wanted to race as fast as I could and I felt that was the best thing about it.”
The injury did not happen overnight. It was just Ryu’s elbow wear.
“These are just chronic changes over time,” Atkins said. “He would feel it during the trip. It would tighten after four innings or so. This also points to the MRI indication that it is chronic. There is no acute injury, but over time this stretching and pulling causes a tightening and loss of dexterity or a feeling of fulfilling his tensions or really finishing them. ”
There are currently two timelines that Jace is working on, but they won’t know for sure until Dr. Neil ElAtrach investigates.
Ryu may need a complete Tommy John operation, which will come with a typical recovery period of 12-15 months, or it may be a partial revision that removes it for a period of 9-12 months.
The traditional TJ could potentially end Ryu’s term with Jace if he had any setbacks, while the partial route could lead to Ryu’s return in the second half of 2023.
“It would be a great result, in both forms, to get involved at some point next year,” Atkins said.
If the former happens and he can’t come back at all, the final numbers of Ryu in a Jays uniform will leave much to be desired.
Although they finished with a 2.69 ERA in the shortened 2020 season and one of the reasons Jace did an extended postseason, Ryu’s 4.07 ERA in 263 innings is not exactly the type of production you’d expect in return for a whopping $ 20 million. season.
Now the last $ 20 million could be an irreparable expense.
But the real value of the Ryu contract was more for presence and a change in perception.
“In fact, I see this pandemic year as an integral part of our transformation as a team, and it has been a stabilizer for us,” Atkins said.
No matter how you feel about Ryu’s contract as a whole or his performance last season or something, his injury undoubtedly leaves less depth of rotation and has probably changed Atkins’ strategy towards the August 2 trading deadline.
Depth of rotation is absolutely necessary and Jace is already one injury away from sinking into the bucket of Thomas Hatch / Bowden Francis / Anthony Kay of Triple-A.
This is not the bucket in which the World Series contender wants to be.
Even if Ross Stripper performs well at the back end of the rotation, there may be an appetite to add a starter and move the veteran right back to a more fluid swingman role later this summer.
There is also a chance that Nate Pearson will play a role at some point, but Jace is still looking at a mass role instead of building him as a traditional starter.
Along with left-handed bats and powerful weapons for the rear of the bullpen, expect to hear now about Jace, who is also searching the launch market for targeting.
“We can think about it creatively, and then obviously we need to look at opportunities for deadlines and commercial gains that can strengthen our depth there,” Atkins said.
Add Comment