For Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt, one of the most encouraging signs with Hyun-Jin Ryu occurred a couple of days after Ryu threw live batting practice. It was not how Ryu looked when he faced hitters, and it was not how he felt afterward. It was that Ryu actually wanted to throw a bullpen session on Wednesday.
“Usually,” Honeycutt said with a smile, “he’s not much of a ’pen thrower.”
And so Ryu threw a 30-pitch bullpen session, which represented another step on his lengthy, setback-laden recovery from a 2015 shoulder surgery.