Hyun-Jin Ryu may need shoulder surgery, Dodgers may need a trade
The news is getting worse for The Los Angeles Dodgers and starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu, who may need shoulder surgery and, in the worst case, could miss all of 2015. That’s certainly not ideal for a team with World Series aspirations that’s already missing one of its starting pitchers for the season.
Our man Jeff Passan has the news:
As Passan notes, there are reports out of Korea, Ryu’s home country, that say surgery is happening. (But have your favorite Korean-to-English translator handy). Ryu hasn’t pitched this season after encountering shoulder issues in spring training, and he experienced some shoulder problems last season too. He hasn’t thrown since May 1.
Ryu was slotted this season as L.A.’s No. 3 starter behind Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, with Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson, both acquired in the offseason, rounding out the rotation. With Ryu out and McCarthy already lost to Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers have leaned on Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias, plus Scott Baker, Joe Wieland and David Huff to lesser degrees.
If Ryu is indeed done for the season, those won’t do. While Frias and Bolsinger have been solid so far, the big-budget Dodgers (24-13 currently, the second best record in the NL) and their made-over front office need to do better than another early playoff exit in 2015.
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That could make them big players in the trade market as we head toward summer. Johnny Cueto and Cole Hamels are the big names on the market that pitching-hungry teams will chase, but the Dodgers could go a less splashy direction and try to get Scott Kazmir from the Oakland Athletics, who have the worst record in baseball. The new Dodgers GM, Farhan Zaidi, worked for the A’s previously and brought in two former A’s pitchers in Anderson and McCarthy.
First, though, we await the official word on Ryu.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
