Dodgers: Hyun-Jin Ryu Up For Another NL Award in 2019
Dodgers free agent-to-be left handed pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu no doubt had an exceptional 2019 season. In a campaign where he was finally — for the most part — healthy from game 1 to game 162, the Korean native ended up leading all of baseball in ERA (2.32), ERA+ (179), and walks per 9 innings (1.20) amongst other stats.
Ryu started for the National League in the All-Star Game, and found his name at or near the top of NL Cy Young award consideration for most of the season. Last week we learned that he is a finalist for the NL Comeback Player of the Year award, and now we learned that his name is in the hat for another NL honor.
Jacob deGrom is a finalist to win the MLBPA Players' Choice Award for National League Outstanding Pitcher, as voted on by his peers. Hyun-Jin Ryu and Mike Soroka are the other finalists.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) October 16, 2019
Ryu is now a nominee for “National League Outstanding Pitcher.” His competition for the award is rookie Mike Soroka from the Atlanta Braves, and 2018 NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom from the New York Mets.
deGrom is also in the conversation for this year’s Cy Young award.
The award for NL Outstanding Pitcher is voted on by the players and presented by the MLBPA. If Ryu comes away with the award, he would be the third Dodger to pick up the honors joining Clayton Kershaw (3 times), Zack Greinke (once), and Eric Gagne (once).
Of course, the bad news is that Ryu will be a free agent after the World Series and could be bringing any new hardware with him to a new team. The worse news is that his agent Scott Boras is already talking Ryu free agency to media.
It’s his best season in how many years now? I’m not gonna say I’ll be glad to see him leave but if history tells us anything and how big league pitchers are Ryu will resign with LA and then spend half the season injured somehow and the money could have went to a younger player who might be less accident prone then Ryu.