Coming off the second elbow ligament reconstruction surgery of his career, Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays) will try to reach four wins for the season.The Toronto Blue Jays announced on Thursday (July 4) that Hyun-jin Ryu will be the starting pitcher against the visiting Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB) on July 7 at 4:37 p.m. at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.Since returning to the big leagues last month after undergoing surgery in June, Ryu has defied expectations and continued to pitch well in every game.With the exception of a four-inning start against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 8 when he was hit in the leg by a pitch, he has been on a roll, going five innings in each game.In six games since his return, he’s 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA.His pitches have been good, too. His trademark breaking ball and a variety of offspeed pitches have kept him in the game.On the last two days, he held the Colorado Rockies to two runs in five innings at Coors Field, a pitcher’s graveyard. A bullpen fire prevented him from getting the win.The outlook is bright against Oakland. Oakland is an underdog with a record of 42 wins and 95 losses this season.They are in last place in the American League (AL) West, and their chances of making the postseason are gone.Oakland is last in the AL with a team batting average of .224 this season. Their team OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) is also last at 0.670.The good news is that Oakland has been hitting lately, scoring 21 runs in a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.One player to watch out for is designated hitter Brent Rooker, who has 23 home runs this season.Despite his lack of accuracy, he has been strong against left-handed pitching this season, with a higher batting average against lefties (.268) than righties (.230).Infielder Zack Gelbrecht has also been hot lately.Oakland’s starting pitcher is left-hander JP Sears. He made his MLB debut last year and hasn’t been great this season, going 3-11 with a 4.60 ERA.In many ways, it’s not a bad environment for Ryu to get a win.However, the problem is that Ryu has lost a lot of his teammates to injury.He’ll have to make do with another catcher, especially since his “best friend” Danny Jansen recently went on the disabled list (IL) with a fractured middle finger in his right hand.Ryu has pitched 292 innings since joining Toronto, including 215⅓ of those with Jansen.Ryu will have to combine with Alejandro Kirk or Tyler Heinemann, which is daunting because they don’t have much experience working together.He’s not a fastball pitcher, he’s more of a changeup guy, so the catcher’s lead is important.That’s not all. Starting infielders Matt Chapman and Bo Bissett, who went down with injuries last month, have yet to return.They’re not expected to 스포츠토토 return until July 7 against Oakland.Their absence leaves a big void for the groundball-inducing pitcher.
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