The return of Toronto Blue Jays Ryu Hyun-jin (36) is approaching, but the local media is not optimistic about the revival. He went on to insist on the need for an insurance starting pitcher in case anything goes wrong.
Canadian media ‘Sportsnet’ said on the 13th (hereinafter Korean time),안전놀이터 ‘There is no guarantee that Alec Manoa (who fell into sluggishness) will solve the problem and that Ryu Hyun-jin will achieve good results even if he returns. Toronto needs a starting pitcher,” he said, arguing that starting pitching resources should be recruited from other teams through trade.
Sportsnet said, ‘Theoretically, Toronto could have a bullpen day, but a more desirable solution would be to find a different starting pitcher. The player doesn’t have to be a star or close to that. Until one of Manoah or Ryu Hyun-jin is ready, a makeshift solution will be of great help to the team,” he explained.
Toronto is doing well with four starters: Kevin Gaussman, Chris Bassett, Jose Berrios, and Yusei Kikuchi. However, Manoa, who finished third in the American League (AL) Cy Young Award last year, was demoted to the Rookie League after sluggish performance with 1 win, 7 losses and an ERA of 6.36 in 13 games due to a lack of pitches.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who was out of the season after undergoing elbow ligament surgery in June last year, is in the final stage of rehabilitation with the goal of returning in the second half of next month. He is going through a smooth rehabilitation process with the goal of returning in late July or early August, but he is in his mid-30s and is not sure of his comeback. As a result, the need for selection for insurance purposes in Toronto is emerging.
Sportsnet picked Ben Lively (Cincinnati), Joey Lucchesi (New York Mets), Chase Anderson (Colorado), and Paolo Espino (Washington) as starting pitchers who can be used in a short period of time and can be recruited without major bleeding.
Among them, Lively, who was mentioned first, is from the Samsung Lions of the KBO League and is familiar to domestic fans. Lively, who signed with Samsung as a substitute player in August 2019, recorded 191 strikeouts with an average ERA of 4.14 and 10 wins and 12 losses in 36 games (202⅓ innings) in Korea before being released due to shoulder pain in June 2021.
After that, Lively, who signed a minor league contract with Cincinnati for two consecutive years, stayed only at Triple A last year, but received a call-up in mid-May this year. He pitches 36⅓ innings in 7 games (5 starts) and is 3-4 with a 4.21 earned run average. He became a losing pitcher in both games in June, and his pace was broken with an ERA of 7.90.
Sportsnet said, “Averaging 91.6 miles (147.4 km) as a sinker, he’s not a fast ball pitcher, but his extensions that alleviate that problem are excellent in the top 9 percent of the league.” He said, “Until he went to Korea, he threw 3 pitches, but now he uses 6 distinctly different pitches.” He is doing relatively well this year and is a pitcher who can throw strikes wherever he goes. Toronto may use Lively in 2023 and send it to Triple A after that for injury insurance purposes,’ he explained. /waw@osen.co.kr