Hyun-Jin Ryu 2020 Outlook: New Blue Jay Unlikely To Match Last Year's Numbers
5 years agoHyun-Jin Ryu had a career-year in 2019 and cashed in with a four-year $80 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays this winter. Last season with the Dodgers, Ryu won 14 games with a 2.32 ERA and sparkling 1.01 WHIP that was sixth among all qualified pitchers. Ryu doesn't throw hard, but keeps batters off-balance with elite control. He has a 5.4 percent career walk rate and command of a five-pitch mix that resulted in an 87.5 average exit velocity last season, good for sixth out of 198 pitchers with at least 200 batted ball events. As good as Ryu was, fantasy owners should exercise caution when looking at him on draft day. Ryu is not a pitcher who will help in strikeouts, he sports just a 22 percent career strikeout rate and only struck out 163 batters in 182.2 innings last year. Ryu has also dealt with durability issues since coming to the Majors. Last season was the first time he threw at least 150 innings since 2014 and spent two stints on the injured list last year. The left-hander should dominate WHIP again, but his ERA is likely to rise closer to his 3.42 career xFIP and he'll have less win potential without the Dodgers' stacked lineup backing him. Ryu is a good pitcher, but an ADP of 133 feels a little high for a starter with his injury history going into his age-33 season moving to the AL East.