The Los Angeles Dodgers had another tough break on Wednesday night when Hyun-Jin Ryu left his start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the second inning due to what was later diagnosed as a strained left groin.
Ryu becomes the latest player who was expected to be a big contributor for the Dodgers in 2018 to land on the disabled list. He joins the likes of Justin Turner, Corey Seager, Logan Forsythe, Yasiel Puig, Rich Hill and Tom Koehler.
After undergoing an MRI on Thursday morning, it was determined that Ryu’s groin strain is a significant injury. According to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, he is expected to remain on the disabled list at least until the All-Star break:
Hyun-Jin Ryu has a Grade 2 strain of his left groin and won’t pitch until after the All-Star break. The Dodgers placed the left-hander on the 10-day disabled list Thursday after an MRI revealed that Ryu’s groin muscle had pulled off the bone, Manager Dave Roberts said.
The injury is obviously an unfortunate one for Ryu, who has been forced to deal with a plethora of injuries in his Major League career.
Additionally, Ryu was off to an outstanding start to the 2018 season, going 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA, 3.16 FIP and 0.88 WHIP in his first six starts. Ryu was striking out batters at a career-high rate, punching out 36 while only walking 10 in his first 29.2 innings of the season.
While Ryu is out, top prospect Walker Buehler is expected to take his place in the starting rotation. Things are a bit complicated though as the Dodgers are planning on limiting Buehler’s innings in what’s his second full season coming off Tommy John surgery.
So Buehler likely won’t be able to toe the mound every fifth day, which means that other starters will be needed to help replace Ryu.
