Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts confirmed Hyun-Jin Ryu will start Thursday in the series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. That’s the first day Ryu is eligible to be reinstated from the 10-day disabled list.
If not Ryu, the Dodgers lone other option in some sense was to call on a spot starter. Clayton Kershaw, slated to pitch Friday, technically could have been tapped. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts previously said the left-handed ace would receive an extra day of rest after throwing 118 pitches last Saturday.
Over the weekend Roberts hinted at Ryu’s forthcoming return, saying the 30-year-old would not need to be sent out on a rehab assignment. The second-year manager added it was plausible Ryu would not be activated until a day or two after he was eligible.
Ryu was put on the DL with a left hip contusion, suffered on a slide into second base. He was projected to miss just one start. On the season Ryu is 1-4 with a 4.05 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.
The southpaw made his 2017 debut at Coors Field, in which he labored through 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits.
Roberts did not name starters for the final two of the four-game series with the Rockies, though the Dodgers’ current alignment suggests it will be Alex Wood and Julio Urias, in that order. Rich Hill and Brandon McCarthy are both expected to come off the DL and pitch in the ensuing series against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.
