Dodgers: Walker Buehler Shares a Great Hyun-Jin Ryu Story
The Dodgers might not have Hyun-jin Ryu on their side anymore, but that won’t stop us all from talking about him. Walker Buehler made an appearance on comedian Theo Von’s podcast this week and talked about all sorts of baseball-related things. That includes one great Hyun-jin Ryu story.
The Dodgers’ ace talked about all sorts of strange things with the comedian, but the Ryu story stands out among them all. Walker talked about the differences Ryu faced after coming to the United States versus playing in Korea.
We[ Dodgers ] had a Korean guy, Hyun-jin Ryu, that he like, hated watching games because he had never done it his whole life. Then he comes to America and is expected to stay for every one. Dude, I’m not kidding you, that guy would be out of the locker room within five minutes of the last out. I don’t even think he showered at the field, I think he just threw his [expletive] on and rolled.
Who knows why Buehler in particular was on Theo Von’s podcast, but boy did we love the stories. Ryu came to the Dodgers out of Korea back in December of 2012 on a six-year deal. He had previously spent his entire career playing for the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea.
This past offseason, Ryu took a free-agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays after seven seasons with the Dodgers. Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million contract in December of 2019.
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We got Hyun-jin’s best years. He will probably put up good numbers when he is healthy; but that is the big question mark. At any rate, we still have an absolutely GREAT rotation. Kershaw is ready this year. Even if it is short. He is healthy. We know what Buehler can do. And Urias actually probably will benefit from a short season.