The ace who pushed RYU away '5 innings no-hitter' A brilliant return, surprising arrest...It got faster after TJS
Jul 25, 2024
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San Francisco left-hander Robbie Ray (33). He is a veteran pitcher well known to domestic fans by inheriting the ace position from Ryu Hyun-jin and winning the American League (AL) Cy Young Award when he was the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021.
It is the first time in about a year and four months that Ray has taken the mound in a big league game since the game against the Cleveland Guardians on April 1 last year. Because I had elbow surgery. Ray, who suffered a torn ligament in his left elbow against Cleveland at the time, underwent Tommy John Surgery, or Tommy John Surgery, on May 4. From that point on, he returned after a year and three months.
Ray won the return game with a brilliant pitch that stopped him with one run without allowing a single hit in five innings. As soon as he took the mound in the first inning, he caught the lead Shohei Ohtani on an outfield fly and allowed one run with four consecutive walks and four pitches, but considering that it was time to get the hang of it, the pitching seemed to be exciting afterwards. After losing a point, he was thinned out with 14 consecutive hitters until the fifth inning. He marked eight strikeouts in the second inning, including striking out all three batters.
However, one thing to pay attention to is found. It's restraint. On this day, Ray threw a total of 86 pitches. It was quite a lot of pitches for a pitcher who returned from Tommy John Surgery. He used 44 fastballs, 27 sliders, and 15 knuckle curves, respectively. The fastball speed hit a maximum of 97.0 miles and an average of 95.2 miles.
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It's not just a fastball. Slider confinement indicated a maximum of 91.1 miles and an average of 89.7 miles. It was 1.1 miles faster than 88.6 miles in 2021.
Many of the pitchers who received Tommy John Surgery experience increased confinement. One of the representative pitchers is Ohtani during his time with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ohtani's average fastball speed in 2018 when he first came to the U.S. was 96.7 miles. However, when he returned in 2020 after receiving the first Tommy John Surgery in October of that year, he averaged 93.8 miles per game. It didn't mean much. However, it increased to 95.6 miles in 2021 when it began to take on the sideline of pitching in earnest and then to 97.3 miles faster in 2022. And even before the second Tommy John Surgery last year, he had an average speed of 96.8 miles.
Of course, this is not a common phenomenon. Rather, it is reported that restraint is more often stagnated or slowed.
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Ryu Hyun-jin's average fastball speed was 90.7 miles when he ranked first in both leagues' combined ERA with the Dodgers in 2019. It also came up to 89.8 and 89.9 miles in 2020 and 2021 when they moved to Toronto. However, he returned in the second half of 2023 and had an average speed of only 88.6 miles on his 263 fastballs in 11 games. Ryu Hyun-jin's average fastball speed in the Hanwha Eagles this year is 142 to 143 km, or 88.2 to 88.9 miles. It's similar to last year.
On the same day, San Francisco beat the Dodgers 8-3 with Ray's good pitching to end its second consecutive loss. San Francisco, which is ranking fourth in the National League West with 49 wins and 54 losses and eighth in the wild card, has a 15.2% chance of advancing to the playoffs. However, if the starting lineup is stabilized with Ray, he may have hope. It is 4.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals, who are ranked third in the wild card. It's a chance to chase.
After the game, Ray seemed a little excited when he took the mound in the first inning. Everything was good. It was a bit hasty. But I threw with confidence what my ball was like. I thought I would be able to find stability if I passed the first inning well" expressed his feelings.
jhno@sportschosun.com
