On Monday, Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu became the only player to agree to the MLB qualifying offer this offseason, as he accepted the one-year, $17.9 million deal to remain with the Dodgers and avoid free agency.
Welcome back, @HyunJinRyu99! pic.twitter.com/8OUqSpqjwo
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 12, 2018
Aside from a three month stint on the disabled list due to a groin injury, Ryu had a terrific 2018 season. He made 15 regular season starts, and went 7-3 while posting a 1.97 ERA, 1.01 WHIP while striking out 89 batter and walking just 15 in 82.1 innings.
Injury Troubles
The South Korea native has now been in the league for five years, all with the Dodgers. He excelled in the Dodgers rotation his first two years. He went 28-15 with a 3.19 ERA and 293 strikeouts over his first 344 innings in Major League Baseball.
However, since then Ryu has seemed to have been bitten by the injury bug. Over the past four seasons, he has made just a combined 40 starts.
He missed the whole 2015 season due to a shoulder injury. He was then forced to undergo season ending elbow surgery after making jut one start in 2016. Ryu returned to the mound in 2017 to make 24 starts, but more injury problems limited him to the 15 starts this past season.
2019 Outlook
If he can stay healthy in 2019, Ryu figures to remain in the Dodgers rotation. He will join fellow lefty Clayton Kershaw, young right hander Walker Buehler, and veterans Rich Hill and Alex Wood.
Outside of this unit, the Dodgers have a ton of depth. Righty Kenta Maeda, young lefty Julio Urias, and Ross Stripling all figure to be in the mix for starts next season.
Players to Decline Qualifying Offer
The six players who decided to decline the qualifying offer and test free agency were fellow Dodger Yasmani Grandal, Craig Kimbrel, Patrick Corbin, A.J. Pollock, Dallas Keuchel, and Bryce Harper.
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