An Nyoung to Ryu Hyun-jin

The Dodgers recently made Ryu Hyun-jin the most expensive South Korean pitcher ever. However, the Dodgers have proven their pocket books are infinitely deep which doesn’t necessarily prove that Ryu Hyun-jin will be the impact pitcher his contract suggests. So I did some research on Los Angeles’ newest addition to see what the hype was really about.

In the KBO he earned All-Star recognition in each of his seven years, posting a career 2.80 ERA with a record of 98-52. Scouts say he is a big left-handed pitcher with a low 90s fastball a good change-up and slider. He pitched very well for South Korea during international competition, which caught the eyes of many major league scouts.

However, I’m hesitant to jump on the Hyun-jin bandwagon just yet.  There’s no doubt he has proven to be one of the best pitchers in the KBO but it means nothing if he can’t translate it overseas. When I researched how well KBO pitchers did when they transitioned to the major leagues I found… nothing. Outside of Chan Ho-park, who was signed by the Dodgers out of high school, the history of South Korean pitchers in the MLB is virtually non-existent. Byung-Hung Kim had a decent career as a reliever posting a 4.42 with 86 saves and Jae Seo was expected to be a good major league pitcher until injuries rendered his career. Up to this point, Korea has not produced many pitchers that have proven they belong in the most demanding league in the world. If Ryu Hyun-jin lives up to his hype he will go down as the greatest South Korean pitcher of all time.

Don’t get me wrong, just because no one could do it before him doesn’t mean that he won’t be able to, it’s just a little concerning.

Another thing that concerns me is his stats, I’m not that impressed. His ERA is very deceiving, because if you look at the last four years he posted a 3.57, 1.82, 3.36, and a 2.26. A 3.57 ERA in the big leagues would be great, but he did this in the 3^rd best league in the world. In the Big Leagues, that translates into an ERA in the 5s or 6s. I don’t know which pitcher the Dodgers are getting, the sub 2.5 or the 3.3 and above. If he can’t prove to be consistent in his home country, the scrutiny of the LA media and the cultural barrier should make it even harder in the states.

If you compare Ryu Hyun-jin’s ERAs to the equally as hyped Daisuke Matsuzaka’s four years before his transition from Japan, Dice-K proves to be much more consistent in the NPB with tougher competition. (2.83, 2.90, 2.30, 2.13) The past couple of years the Japanese superstar has been eaten alive by the MLB schedule, earning fewer than ten wins in each of his last four seasons.

In mist of all the doubt, there are many positives about Ryu Hyun-jin’s game.

First, is that he has won two gold gloves (2006 and 2010). This proves that he is an athlete, which will translate well in any league. Having athleticism as a pitcher creates confidence and a swagger that will give him a greater chance of succeeding in the MLB.

I also love that he has 5 strikeout titles in the KBO. He is not a particularly hard thrower, so his strikeout numbers suggest that he has great deception with his pitches. Deception allows a pitcher to have a greater error margin with their location and creates more swing and misses when thrown at the proper location.

My prediction: Ryu Hyun-jin will start off as the Dodger’s number three starter and will have initial success. However by the end of this year or next he will be a long reliever, but will have a good career in that role.

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-Blake Dale Lepire