| Toronto Blue Jays Hyunjin Ryu. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
As of a year after joining the Toronto Blue Jays, Ryu Hyun-jin, 33, is highly regarded as a player who accelerated the team’s rebuilding and proved the ransom.
The J’s Journal, which delivers the news of Toronto, looked back on Ryu Hyun-jin’s one year of joining, saying, “A happy anniversary for Toronto fans” on the 28th (Korean time).
On December 28, 2019, Ryu Hyun-jin held an initiation ceremony at the Rogers Center, the home stadium of Toronto. It was a super-large contract worth 80 million dollars (about 87.9 billion won) over 4 years.
“Ryu Hyun-jin wasn’t the most coveted player in the free agent market last year,” Jace Journal explained. “Toronto offered more than $300 million for 10 years to Gerrit Cole, who was voted the biggest, but eventually headed to the New York Yankees.”
In 2019, World Series MVP Stephen Strassberg remained at the Washington Nationals, and Madison Bumgarner, another premier starting resource, signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The media said, “All of Cole, Strasberg and Bumgarner signed Ryu Hyun-jin before Ryu Hyun-jin. Therefore, the teams that needed to reinforce the selection competed for Ryu Hyun-jin. Toronto seemed unlikely, but finally succeeded in signing.”
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| The Toronto Blue Jays celebrated Ryu Hyun-jin’s 1st anniversary. (Toronto Blue Jays SNS capture) © News1 |
Ryu Hyun-jin recorded 14 wins and 5 losses and an ERA of 2.32 in the 2019 season, ranking second in the National League Cy Young’s poll. However, there were many concerns due to the history of injuries. The media said, “I expected Toronto to regret the contract with Hyunjin Ryu after about a year.”
However, Ryu Hyun-jin perfectly met the club’s expectations as an ace in 2020. In 12 games, he posted an average of 2.69 ERA with 5 wins and 2 losses, and was named as the final candidate for the American League Cy Young.
Jace Journal said, “Ryu Hyun-jin has performed an activity suitable for his annual salary,” and said, “With Ryu Hyun-jin’s recruitment, the team was able to accelerate the rebuilding.
The Toronto club also commemorated Ryu Hyun-jin’s 1 year of joining through social media. Toronto said, “Ryu Hyun-jin joined Toronto today a year ago,” and in Korean, “Ryu Hyun-jin is special”, expressing affection for Ace.
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