Ryu Hyun-jin (Toronto Blue Jays), who is challenging his fourth win of the season, is aiming for a ‘fourth period in three games’. The opponent is the Boston Red Sox, a hard-hitting team that features former teammate Justin Turner, Japanese hitter Masataka Yoshida, and home run hitter Rafael Devers.
Ryu Hyun-jin will start the 2023 Major League Baseball match against Boston at the Rogers Center in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 2:35 a.m. on the 18th (Korean time).
Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to the big league last month after over a year, played in three consecutive games, from his third appearance against the Chicago Cubs (August 14th) to the Cincinnati Reds (August 21st) and the Cleveland Guardians (August 27th). He became a winning pitcher and had a blast.
However, in the next three games, there was little to no victory.
In the game against the Colorado Rockies on the 2nd of this month, he met the requirements of a winning pitcher by allowing 2 runs in 5 innings, but the bullpen threw away the victory, and in the game against the Oakland Athletics on the 7th (5 innings, 2 runs) and the Texas Rangers on the 13th (6 innings, 3 runs), the batters were not supported. Because they did not receive it, they suffered the yoke of defeat.
Although he did not accumulate any wins, the games in all three previous appearances were not bad.
In particular, in his last appearance against Texas, he went 6 innings, the most since his return, and recorded a quality start (6 or more innings as a starter, 3 earned runs or less). He also seemed to be improving, with a top speed of over 90 miles (approximately 144.8 km).
Boston, Ryu Hyun-jin’s fourth team attempting to win four games, is competing with the New York Yankees for last place in the American League East Division this season. Because the competing teams in the district are so strong, it is true that they are not showing the aspect of a ‘traditional strong team’ even considering that they are at the bottom of the rankings despite hovering around a .500 win rate.
The atmosphere in Boston is not very good recently, with Haim Bloom, president of baseball operations, being fired for taking responsibility for poor performance.
However, this is not an easy team to watch. Boston’s team batting average this season is 0.263 (as of the 15th), ranking 3rd among 30 major league teams. Although the team does not have many home runs, the on-base percentage and slugging percentage are good, and the team OPS (0.765) is 7th.
If you look at the batting lineup, there are many familiar names. A representative example is Turner, who worked together with Ryu Hyun-jin during his time with the Dodgers.
Turner’s talent exploded in earnest after transferring to the Dodgers in 2014, Ryu Hyun-jin’s second season in the big league. He hit double-digit home runs for five consecutive years from 2015 to 2019, and was especially strong in chances, earning him the nickname ‘Turner Time.’
Turner, who played for the Dodgers until last year, moved to Boston ahead of this season. He is performing well this season with a batting average of 0.283, 23 home runs, and 94 RBI. His RBI is already a personal high, and his home runs are expected to surpass the 27 home runs he recorded in 2016, 2019, and 2021.
It has been 10 years since Ryu Hyun-jin faced Turner in 2013, when Turner was with the New York Mets. At the time, he had allowed one hit in three at-bats.
The match against Japanese hitter Yoshida is also interesting. Yoshida, who moved to Boston this season after playing in Japanese professional baseball, has adapted smoothly to the big leagues with a batting average of 0.289, 15 home runs, and 68 RBIs so far.
The fact that there are more strikeouts (70) than walks (34) is considered a disadvantage, but considering that it is the first season, it is not a bad result.
In fact, Boston’s main hitter is Devers, not Turner or Yoshida. Devers, who signed a ‘super extension contract’ worth $331 million (about 440.2 billion won) over 11 years ahead of this season, is living up to expectations by hitting 31 home runs and 95 RBIs.
Like Yoshida, Devers also does not have a very good starting pitching plan, so he should be careful of big shots, but Ryu Hyun-jin will need to devise a strategy with his expert ball combination.
The pitcher who will face Hyun-jin Ryu for the starting spot is Nick Pivetta. He is a right-handed pitcher who debuted in 2017 and is in his 7th year in the big leagues, and is classified as a 4th or 5th starter in the big leagues.
This season in Boston, he went back and forth between starting and bullpen, recording 9 wins, 9 losses, 1 save, and an ERA of 4.56. He can be said to be a much less burdensome opponent than Max Scherzer (Texas), whom he faced in the previous match.
In order for Ryu Hyun-jin to win 4 times in his 4th attempt, help from batters is also required. Brandon Belt and Danny Jansen, who served as Ryu Hyun-jin’s helpers until he won his third win, are out due to injury, so a new ‘solver’ is needed.
Furthermore, from the Toronto team’s perspective, winning every game is desperate. Toronto, which suffered the shock of losing its four-game home game to wild card rival Texas last week, is seeking a rebound in the game against Boston.
BY: 안전놀이터