Hyun-jin Ryu has earned the Dodgers’ trust

LOS ANGELES — Hyun-jin Ryu has enjoyed a renaissance season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, his finest campaign since having two years wiped away with shoulder and elbow injuries. He’s looking again like the big-game pitcher he was in his first two seasons in the majors.

“Guys who can pitch well in big games, they command the baseball. They don’t beat themselves, they don’t walk guys,” manager Dave Roberts said. “You see it every time he takes the baseball, he’s under control. His ability to strike three or four different pitches, he gets lefties and gets righties out, and again not beating yourself, not creating unnecessary traffic, he does a great job of that.”

Ryu was fantastic for the Dodgers this season, walking only 15 batters in his 15 starts while posting a 1.97 ERA that among pitchers with at least 10 starts ranked third in the majors behind only Jacob deGrom (1.70) and Blake Snell (1.89).

“He just knows how to pitch. He has four pitches, he commands the ball, he throws to all four corners. He has the ability to change speeds, throw strikes where he wants to throw strikes, expand when he wants to expand,” said third baseman Justin Turner. “He’s been really special this year. He’s put together an outstanding season for us. It’s unfortunate he hurt his groin and had to shut it down for a couple months, or we might be talking about him for the Cy Young Award.”

Ryu at Dodger Stadium posted a minuscule 1.15 ERA, allowing no runs in five of his nine home starts.

Down the stretch Ryu was even better, posting a 1.69 ERA in his final seven starts, including 30 strikeouts against only three walks in September. That late surge, as well as staying in rotation order, led to Ryu getting the surprise Game 1 start against the Atlanta Braves, ahead of a rested Clayton Kershaw, something that the Dodgers haven’t done since 2009.

The move was so unexpected that Ryu got the news from Kershaw himself, on Tuesday when the two were working out at Dodger Stadium.

“I’m obviously kind of nervous, but I think it’s a good thing,” Ryu said. “I would like to channel that nervousness into something good tomorrow and hopefully I’ll pitch well.”

Pitching well was the norm for Ryu in 2013-14, after signing a six-year, $36 million contract with the Dodgers, who won the bid for his posting rights from the Hanwha Eagles in the Korean Baseball Organization.

He had a 3.17 ERA in 56 starts in those first two seasons with a 2.97 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) that ranked 11th in the majors. But then came the injuries. First was a procedure to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder in 2015. That limited him to just one start in 2016, after which he missed the rest of the year with elbow tendonitis and had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow after the season.

Ryu had a nice bounce back year in 2017, posting a 3.77 ERA in 24 starts but was left off the postseason roster. Now, he’s starting the first playoff game of the year for the Dodgers.

“I know he really wanted to make a statement and finish in the rotation,” Roberts said.

“I’m a similar pitcher from my first couple of years,” Ryu said. “I guess the only difference is I know more about the league and the players, and having that experience under my belt definitely helps me.”

His first major league playoff start was a short one, allowing four runs in just three innings in the 2013 NLDS, afterward admitting nerves got the best of him. But in his next two postseason starts, he allowed just one run in 13 innings. The latter start — one run in six innings to the Cardinals in the 2014 NLDS — was remarkable because it was Ryu’s first start in 24 days, returning from left shoulder inflammation without making a rehab start of any kind.

But that’s Ryu, who marches to his own drum. He doesn’t throw bullpens in between starts, a tactic that served him well in the KBO, where he was a seven-time all-star in seven seasons and won five league strikeout titles.

“We talked about Hyun-jin’s ability to have many weapons, to get left-handed hitters out, right-handed hitters out. He’s been very consistent this season,” Roberts said. “He’s in as good of shape as I’ve ever seen him, and so this is just the next progression, and he’s ready for this moment.”

“I’m going to go full throttle from the very first pitch in the very first inning,” Ryu said. “Make sure that I get my job done as the starting pitcher and put the team in the position where it can win.”