Don't Miss

Dodgers’ Ryu knew about shoulder tear for 2 years

May 22, 2015

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin speaks to reporters at Dodger Stadium on Friday, May 22, 2015. Ryu underwent surgery on Thursday and wore a sling during the press conference. (Brian Han/Korea Times)

By Brian Han

(LOS ANGELES) — Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin sat down with reporters on Friday at Dodger Stadium a day after his season ending shoulder surgery.

Ryu did not get to pitch at all during the regular season and it looks as if this will be a lost year for the South Korean.

Repairing a torn labrum is complicated and even surgeon Dr. Neal DeAttrache who performed the procedure likened it to “putting together a puzzle without the box top.”

As it turns out, the lefty had known about the tear for quite some time.

“I knew about the shoulder injury since my MRI from two years ago,” he said. “This injury has been dragging on for awhile and I’m glad to have gotten it done sooner rather than later.”

But the tear had not grown noticeably since that time. Instead his doctors suggested it was time to go through with the surgery with all the setbacks during rehab and he took the advice.

As for preparing for the next season, the future is murky whether or not he will be able to match the velocity or movement he has demonstrated in the past two seasons.

In both 2013 and 2014, the South Korean threw just a hair below 91 mph and topped out around 94 mpg on his fastball according to FanGraphs.com.

“I’m not going to change my approach and I will do my best to rehab and listen to what the doctor’s have to tell me,” he said.

Ryu held a 14-7 record and a 3.38 ERA last year. In December of 2012, the South Korean agreed to a $36 million, six-year deal.