While the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation as a whole has excelled this season, the group undeniably has been led by Hyun-Jin Ryu. A perfect May earned the left-hander National League Pitcher of the Month honors, and Ryu’s first start in June was an extension of that.
Despite the Dodgers committing three errors back of him — and Ryu himself throwing wide of first base on what would have been a difficult play and therefore did not draw another error — the team pulled away late for a 9-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Ryu threw an additional 11 pitches after two errors in the first inning, and 25 overall in the frame. He nonetheless managed to get through seven shutout innings, allowing only three hits and soft contact throughout the start.
While Ryu has made pitching look incredibly easy, he denied that being the case and explained where his focus lies, via SportsNet LA:
“There’s always a challenge. Especially with commanding my pitches. I’m trying to make sure that I throw and each every pitch in a very competitive fashion and not give them anything easy. So that’s my main focus and that’s the challenge that I always face each night.”
With the win, Ryu improved to 9-1 and lowered his ERA to 1.35. He leads the National League and is tied for the MLB lead in wins, is first in ERA, and boasts the lowest WHIP among all NL pitchers (second overall) at 0.78.
Ryu has not allowed a run in five of his last six starts, and held opponents to two runs or fewer in each of his outings. Ryu trails only Don Drysdale’s 1.33 ERA for best in Dodgers franchise history in the first 12 starts of a season.
Although his scoreless streak was snapped at 32 innings, the 32-year-old now has not allowed a run in his last 18.2 innings pitched. The dominant first half he’s authoring will at minimum land Ryu in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game.
He figures to be a frontrunner to start at Progressive Field, particularly considering Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will again lead the NL All-Stars. However, Roberts and Ryu have both pushed back against that early conversation.
