Heading into the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation was widely expected to be led by Clayton Kershaw, with the torch potentially passed to Walker Buehler at some point during the year. Instead, it’s largely been carried by Hyun-Jin Ryu thus far in 2019.
The Dodgers’ rotation has been on an impressive stretch, which has helped the team to a National League-best 33 wins. Their surge can be traced back to when Kershaw was activated off the 10-day injured list.
However, Ryu has been nothing short of phenomenal from the beginning. He rose to the occasion with a strong start on Opening Day and overcame a minor blip in the radar — stint on the IL because of a groin strain — to continue forging ahead.