It was but a few days ago Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu would each compete to potentially make the postseason roster as a relief pitcher. Maeda pitched three innings in an abbreviated start, but the plan doesn’t call for the same with Ryu on Saturday.
Not only does Roberts intend for the southpaw to take the mound against the San Francisco Giants for a typical outing, what the future hols for Ryu may change. “He’s thrown the baseball really well in the second half,” Roberts said.
“That’s one of those things that we’ll see how it plays out and keep him built up. He’s going to make his start and we’ll reassess after that. To make a decision now just doesn’t seem responsible.”
In his last start, Ryu largely coasted through four innings against the Washington Nationals before self-inflicted trouble. He walked Stephen Strasburg with two outs in the fifth, then put Treat Turner on board.
That forced Roberts into calling on Ross Stripling, who retired Jayson Werth to end the inning. The book closed on Ryu at 4.2 scoreless innings, three hits allowed, two walks and five strikeouts. Stripling allowed three runs in the sixth and was saddled with the loss.
Ryu is 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA and held opponents to a .218/.303/.633 batting line in nine starts since the All-Star break; the Dodgers are 6-3 in those games.
The club previously expressed hesitation this season to move Ryu into the bullpen, because of his arduous program to loosen his shoulder and warm up. Ryu made a relief appearance in May, recording a four-inning save.
Comparatively, Roberts recently championed Maeda as an effective pitcher out of the bullpen in part due to the success he’s had against right-handed batters.
