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Ryu plays catch 1st time since shoulder flare-up, probable May return

April 8, 2015
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, of South Korea, throws at a practice. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, of South Korea, throws at a practice. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

(Yonhap) — Ryu Hyun-jin, the injured South Korean pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, played catch for the first time in more than two weeks since his left shoulder flared up, the team said on Tuesday, though he remains far from returning to game action.

According to a report on the Dodgers’ website, Ryu is progressing in his recovery from a left shoulder ailment that shut him down after just two spring training starts. Manager Don Mattingly, though, noted the South Korean only took a baby step.

“It wasn’t much more than you and I playing catch in the backyard,” Mattingly was quoted as saying.
The Dodgers opened their season Monday, local time, with Ryu on the disabled list (DL), and won’t need a regular fifth starter until early May, thanks to occasional off-days in April. The Dodgers may not rush him back and a May return seems likely.

Ryu went on the DL once last year with a left shoulder injury and was shut down early toward the end of the regular season, without going on the DL, for the same issue.

This year, he started late in his spring training with some back pain, and then his shoulder acted up again in late March.

Ryu, the first South Korean pitcher to jump from South Korea’s KBO League to the majors, is in his third big league season. He has gone 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA in his first two seasons, and has often said his primary goal in 2015 was to pitch at least 200 innings. He tossed 192 innings in 2013 but was limited to 152 innings last year, with two trips to the DL.