Dodger Surprise

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a surprising choice to open the NLDS against the Dodgers. Bypassing ace Clayton Kershaw, he went instead with Hyun-Jin Ryu. Just 7-3 during a 15-appearance regular season shorted by a torn groin muscle, the Korean lefty was dominant when healthy -- his ERA was under 2. That number went down Thursday night, when the 31 year old threw seven shutout innings -- as the Dodgers cruised to a 6-0 victory. Ryu held the Braves to four hits while walking none and striking out eight.
That performance was even more impressive when noting that he's among the few pitchers who've regained full effectiveness after surgert for a torn labrum, a producer with a far lower success rate than Tommy John surgery. The LA Times pointed out that Dodgers head physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who operated on Ryu, was on hand to watch the game. I hope his patient sent him a game ball after the final out.
(My image of Ryu is from the April 25th, 2013 Dodgers/Mets game at Citi Field.)

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