Discussions

The opening game of the 2024 KBO League was held at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul on Sunday. It was a big match between LG, which won the Korean Series title for the first time in 29 years last year, and Ryu Hyun-jin, who returned to the Korean pro league for the first time in 12 years, as the starting pitcher.

Since Ryu returned to Hanwha in late February with the highest-ever contract worth 17 billion won for eight years, interest in Ryu has been high during the spring camp and exhibition games. Finally, the opening game. Ryu has taken the mound in the KBO League regular season for the first time in 4,188 days since the game against the Nexen Heroes in Daejeon on Oct. 4, 2012.

In the bottom of the first inning, LG's No. 1 hitter Park Hae-min took off his helmet and bowed to Ryu Hyun-jin on the mound. After the game, Park explained his behavior.

"Actually, our players thought a lot about it. What should I do?" (captain) Ji-hwan, Hyun-soo and Dong-won talked about it, but since they came back from shining Korea, I was the leadoff hitter, and I decided to greet them, and the rest of the players applauded. I am really grateful that they shone for our country. With this respect, all of our players talked together and I came to greet them."

It was not the end with Park Hae-min's greeting in the first inning. Even a foreign hitter showed respect to Ryu. Austin Dean, a foreign hitter who took off his helmet as the first batter in the second inning, greeted Ryu with a big smile. Austin is well aware of Ryu's reputation as a big league player.

Honorable manners. LG hitters, who greeted Ryu with a gracious welcome, bullied him and even gave him a bitter experience of losing the opening game. In the second inning, with two outs and a runner on the first base, LG created a chance to load the bases with Park Dong-won's hit to the left and Moon Sung-joo's infield single to the shortstop, and Shin Min-jae hit a timely two-run game to give Ryu his first run.

When the game was tying 2-2, an error by the opponent team's second baseman made a catch error, creating a chance for the first and third bases. Park took off his helmet and greeted others in the first inning, and hit the finishing hit with a timely hit. It was a timely hit to make up for his poor hitting twice in the first and second innings. Afterwards, Park stole the second base to make it to second and third base with two outs, and Hong Chang-ki threw a KO punch at Ryu with a timely two-run shot. Ryu was also hit by Kim Hyun-soo, who was eventually forced to leave the team early. During the three ⅔ innings, Ryu gave six hits, three walks and five runs (two earned), making him a losing pitcher.

Top hitter Park Hae-min hit a finishing hit against Ryu, making two hits, one RBI, one run and three steals from four times at bat. After the game, Park said, "His ball control is so good that he throws it towards the edge of the borderline is amazing. Not only fast balls but also curves and sliders. When I saw left-handed pitchers throw changeups to left-handed batters, I felt that he was an amazing pitcher."

Park Hae-min, who made a timely hit by hitting his first fastball in the fourth inning, said, "I prepared for this (third at-bat) because I didn't throw any fastballs at the second at-bat. And since I saw breaking balls in the front at-bat, I hope I don't miss fastballs. As I had good ball control, I thought it would be disadvantageous if the count was concentrated, so I proactively targeted the ball, which is a good result."

In 2006, Ryu joined the Hanwha Eagles in the second round (second overall) in the rookie draft. In his first year since his debut, he won the Triple Crown in three categories: multiple wins (18 wins), earned run average (2.23) and strikeouts (204), winning both the MVP and the Rookie of the Year award at the same time. The nickname "monster" suited him well, and he conquered the KBO league and became the best pitcher in Korea. He played in the KBO League for seven seasons until 2012, recording 98 wins, 52 losses, one save and a 2.80 ERA in 190 games.

After the end of the 2012 season, Ryu entered the U.S. through the posting system. The Los Angeles Dodgers bid 25.737,737 U.S. dollars for the posting money to win the bid. Ryu entered the big league with a six-year contract worth 36 million dollars. In his first year in the big league in 2013, Ryu had an impressive 14 wins and eight losses with a 3.00 ERA and ranked fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting. In 2014, he continued his career with 14 wins and seven losses and a 3.38 ERA.

However, the first ordeal came. Ryu had surgery on his left shoulder joint and sequin before the 2015 season. Having shoulder surgery with low probability of success in rehabilitation, he endured more than a year of rehabilitation programs. He made a comeback to the game in July 2016, but underwent arthroscopic surgery on his elbow in September 2016.

Ryu Hyun-jin had his best year in 2019 by signing a one-year contract with the Dodgers. In 29 games, he pitched 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA, ranking first in the National League. He was named an All-Star for the first time, and pitched as a starting pitcher in the National League in the All-Star Game. He was selected second in the Cy Young Award voting.

Ryu Hyun-jin, who became a free agent, successfully signed a four-year, $80 million free agent contract with Toronto ahead of the 2020 season. In 2020, when he played a shortened season due to COVID-19, he recorded 5 wins and 2 losses with a 2.69 ERA in 12 games, ranking third in the Cy Young Award vote in the American League. In 2021, he recorded 14 wins and 10 losses with a 4.37 ERA in 31 games, his fourth 14-win season in the big league.

However, he underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2022. After rehabilitation, he returned to the big league in August last year. He finished the 2023 season with three wins, three losses and a 3.46 ERA in 11 games (52 innings).

After becoming a free agent again after the season, Ryu decided to return to his former team Hanwha Eagles after agonizing over staying in the big league. The Hanwha Eagles gave Ryu the highest contract ever worth 17 billion won for eight years in the KBO. In 186 games (1,055.1 innings) in the big league, Ryu had 78 wins, 48 losses, one save and an ERA of 3.27. https://www.totositesafe.com/