TORONTO – If there was ever a time that a little extra movement and velocity would make a difference, it would be in a game like this: must-win, season on the line, ace on the mound. With that in mind, the Toronto Blue Jays set up their post-season rotation in rather surprising fashion. Matt Shoemaker would start Game 1, allowing staff ace Hyun Jin Ryu to pitch Game 2 on extra rest.
But soon after Ryu stepped onto the mound at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night, it was apparent he didn’t have his best stuff, extra day of rest or not. Before the second inning ended, the left-hander was in the dugout, out of a game that was already out of reach for a Blue Jays team heading toward post-season elimination. With that, his tremendous 2020 season came to an end in frustrating fashion.
“They were getting hits off of all my pitches,” Ryu said afterwards through an interpreter. “I just didn’t have a good game.”
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While never an overpowering pitch, Ryu’s fastball benefits from added velocity. In the Blue Jays’ playoff clinching win over the Yankees last week, Ryu topped 90 m.p.h. with 15 pitches on his way to one of his best starts of the year. Facing the Rays on Wednesday, he reached 90 m.p.h. just once.
Not only that, the Rays’ two biggest hits came on pitches that benefit from added velocity. Mike Zunino hit an 88 m.p.h. four-seam fastball for a second-inning home run, and Hunter Renfroe‘s grand slam came on an 85 m.p.h. cutter later that same frame. There’s no doubt movement and location matter, too, but if nothing else a drop in velocity reduced Ryu’s margin for error.
It’s not the first time Ryu has pitched with diminished velocity, and if anyone succeed without a blazing fastball it’s him, but he topped 90 m.p.h. at least three times in every one of his 12 regular season starts. Reaching that threshold just a single time is noteworthy and potentially concerning.
After Ryu’s final regular season start, he felt “a little sore,” according to manager Charlie Montoyo, but the Blue Jays later stated that there was no injury in play. So, now that the season is over and there’s no competitive edge to be gained by downplaying any such concerns, was Ryu’s drop in velocity health-related?
“No. They just did a good job against him, but he was fine,” Montoyo said. “There was nothing that we knew. If we knew something, of course he wouldn’t pitch. But no. They did a good job. Their approach was outstanding.”
“I physically felt good, but I did notice that my velo dipped, especially my fastball,” added Ryu. “But I think the mistakes actually hurt me more than the velo itself. In the first inning they were getting hits off of all my secondary pitches, which made the game extremely difficult for me.”
From behind the plate, catcher Danny Jansen said he didn’t see a major difference in Ryu’s stuff compared to usual. To some extent, the Rays’ hitters deserve credit.
“They just took advantage of a couple pitches early,” said Jansen, whose two home runs were the lone bright spots for the Blue Jays in their 8-2 loss. “They were aggressive and jumping on him and the grand slam and all that stuff happened quick. We prepared just like any other game, we took our time, we were executing what we wanted to.”
Already this month, we’ve seen Ryu’s velocity fluctuate from start to start. He reached the 90 m.p.h. threshold just three times against the Yankees on Sept. 7 before topping 90 m.p.h. 20 times six days later against the Mets. He pitched well in the start after that, a loss to the Phillies, but his velocity was down again. Yet his stuff was certainly back in the clinching game against the Yankees.
With those fluctuations in mind, it’s easier to see this as a poorly-timed clunker rather than a truly alarming sign.
“Days like today happen,” said shortstop Bo Bichette, whose two errors kept Ryu on the mound for longer than necessary. “He’s our guy. We went out and got him for a reason. He’s done everything we’ve asked of him this year and unfortunate for him that it happened today that he had a tough outing, but we all believe in him 100 per cent.”
There’s certainly plenty of reason to believe in Ryu after a season in which he posted a 2.69 ERA with 72 strikeouts compared to just 17 walks in a team-leading 67 innings. Those numbers are good enough to earn down-ballot Cy Young votes, and more importantly they establish Ryu as the staff ace the Blue Jays wanted when they signed him for $80 million over four years.
Now, it’s a matter of getting some rest and building on this success in 2021.
“I don’t want the past two games to taint all the efforts and hardship we went through as a team during the regular season,” Ryu said. “We didn’t necessarily have a place to call home, Buffalo was a home stadium for us, but it pretty much felt like being on the road throughout the season … To make the post-season was great. The last two games didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but I think the season overall we did a great job as a group overcoming those hardships.”
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