With one week remaining until the 2017 regular season begins for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Hyun-jin Ryu makes his final case to make the Opening Day roster. He and the Dodgers are the home team at Camelback Ranch for their last meeting with the Chicago White Sox, and face off against Derek Holland.
Ryu’s return from his shoulder injury has been lengthy but he’s seemingly five innings away from regaining his long lost place in the Dodgers’ rotation. His first outing this spring was two scoreless innings, his second was three innings of one-run ball, and his most recent outing was four innings of one-hit ball.
Even though his velocity isn’t back to its pre-injury levels, Ryu has remained effective this spring thanks to his ability to throw strikes and change speeds. His curveball looks like it did back in 2013 and his changeup and slider still seem effective.
Whether he’ll be a good Major League starter while throwing in the upper 80s instead of the low 90s remains to be seen. But, another strong outing should give Ryu an opportunity to prove it possible.
Holland, on the other hand, is practically guaranteed a rotation spot, so his outing is more or less a tuneup for the veteran lefty. He’s only made three Cactus League starts, including one against the Dodgers in which he allowed two runs on a Bobby Wilson homer. That was also the same game when the White Sox put together the infamous 14-run ninth inning.
For a second time this spring, the Dodgers go with the combination of Chase Utley starting at second base and Logan Forsythe at third. Kiké Hernandez, who is vying for one of the remaining bench spots on the Opening Day roster, starts at shortstop.
Dodgers lineup:
3B: Logan Forsythe
SS: Kiké Hernandez
LF: Franklin Gutierrez
C: Yasmani Grandal
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
CF: Joc Pederson
2B: Chase Utley
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
