That the Los Angeles Dodgers enter play Wednesday two games above .500 is somewhat of a surprise. Although they entered the season with lofty expectations, little has gone according to plan.
At present time, four members of the Dodgers’ Opening Day starting rotation is on the disabled list. Kenta Maeda is expected to return for the series finale against the Texas Rangers. That still leaves Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu all sidelined due to injury.
Ryu’s was arguably the most surprising — he didn’t do any unorthodox movement — and the most severe; his groin muscle tore off the bone. The Dodgers aren’t expecting Ryu to return from the groin strain until after the All-Star break.
He suffered the injury May 2 and has done little activity in the weeks since. However, that changed a bit on Tuesday.
Ryu threw his first bullpen session since being placed on the 10-day disabled list, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts considered it a positive step forward, according Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
“It was a low-intensity thing,” Roberts said. “But the training staff is encouraged about Hyun-Jin.”
Ryu went 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA, 3.12 FIP and 0.87 WHIP in six starts before going down. He entered the season with renewed optimism as he had the benefit of spending the offseason training rather than completing any sort of rehab program.
Remaining healthy has been a struggle for the 31-year-old since he made a combined 56 starts through his first two seasons with the Dodgers. Ryu missed all of 2015 after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, and made just one start the following season.
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