In his start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last Wednesday, Hyun-Jin Ryu was struck on his left foot by a line drive. He managed to continue pitching and went into the sixth inning.
Ryu reported pain and swelling the next day, which he was receiving treatment for. The 30-year-old nonetheless expressed cautious optimism the injury wasn’t serious, citing x-ray results that came back negative.
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expressed a similar sentiment. Now the club is less uncertain about Ryu’s health, however.
According to Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times, Ryu is scheduled to undergo additional testing on his foot:
Hyun-Jin Ryu will undergo a bone scan on his left foot Monday as the Dodgers evaluate his ability to pitch later in the week.
Regardless of whether or not Ryu showed enough improvement in his foot, he wasn’t much of a candidate to pitch in the series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Having just completed a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, the off day allows for the Dodgers to hand Clayton Kershaw the ball Tuesday on regular rest. Alex Wood and Rich Hill are also probables.
After a demotion to the bullpen for a short period at the end of May, Ryu has been a mainstay in the Dodgers rotation for the past month. In 14 games (13 starts) this season, he’s 3-6 with a 4.21 ERA, 5.00 FIP and 1.40 WHIP. Ryu has 69 strikeouts to 22 walks in 72.2 innings of work.
If he’s to miss any prolonged stretch, it would rob the Dodgers of another starter as Julio Urias recently underwent season-ending shoulder surgery. Offsetting potentially losing Ryu could be the returns of Scott Kazmir or Brandon McCarthy.
