In what proved to be a loss the Los Angeles Dodgers never fully recovered from, Hyun-Jin Ryu missed all of last season after undergoing surgery in May to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.
The injury was one Ryu pitched with in 2013 and 2014, and was an issue the Dodgers were aware of when they signed the South Korean native to a six-year deal before the 2013 season.
Ryu’s first time throwing after the surgery was last October, and he’s slowly made progress in his recovery since then. He managed to throw multiple bullpen sessions prior to and during camp, but Ryu’s recovery then hit a snag.
The soon-to-be-29-year-old felt discomfort in early March and was temporarily shutdown. The Dodgers maintained the time missed should not be viewed as a setback.
Ryu resumed throwing last week, but it wasn’t until Monday that he was back on the mound for his first bullpen session since February, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Hyun-Jin Ryu threw a 20-pitch bullpen, his first since Feb. 26.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 14, 2016
Limited to throwing only fastballs and not at full speed, Ryu managed to complete the bullpen session without issue:
Ryu threw w/moderate velocity but said he felt fine and considered today a step forward in recovery from shoulder surgery.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 14, 2016
Ryu was very successful in his first two seasons with the Dodgers, going a combined 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA, 2.97 FIP and 1.19 WHIP in 56 starts. He’s hoping to return to the rotation at some point in May, with Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi recently saying setting a firm date is a nearly impossible to do at this time.
Manager Dave Roberts previously remarked he’d like for Ryu to make 20 starts this season.
