TORONTO (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu will miss the rest of the season because of ligament damage in his elbow, the team announced Tuesday.
The extent of the damage and the precise nature of the surgery required to repair it is still unknown, but general manager Ross Atkins said Ryu will not pitch again in 2022. Atkins said the best-case scenario would see Ryu returning in the second half of 2023.
Ryu, from South Korea, is 2-0 with a 5.67 ERA in six starts this season. He left his June 1 outing against the White Sox after four innings and was placed on the 15-day injured list the following day.
Ryu also missed time with a sore forearm from April 17 to May 13. He made four more starts after returning May 14 at Tampa Bay.
Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Blue Jays in December 2019. He went 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 starts in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season as Toronto earned a wild card spot in the expanded playoff format.
Last season, Ryu went 14-10 with a 4.37 ERA. Overall, he is 75-45 with a 3.26 ERA in 175 games, all but one of them starts.
Ryu was an All-Star in 2019, the last of his six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he went 14-5 and posted an NL-best 2.32 ERA.
While with the Dodgers, Ryu sat out the 2015 season and made only one appearance in 2016 due to left shoulder surgery and elbow tendinitis. He also missed time in 2017 with injuries to his left hip and foot.
Also Tuesday, the Blue Jays put right-hander Julian Merryweather on the 15-day injured list with a strained left abdominal and recalled right-hander Jeremy Beasley from Triple-A. Merryweather left Monday’s game in the seventh inning because of soreness in his side.
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