Well, it's official. The Dodgers have lost another key member of their starting rotation. Just weeks after losing right-hander Brandon McCarthy to Tommy John Surgery, the team announced that left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu will undergo left shoulder surgery on Thursday.
The arthroscopic surgery is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st 2015 and will be performed by team physician Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Ryu has been on the 60-day Disabled List since spring training with inflammation in his shoulder. Ryu and the Dodgers opted for rest and relaxation over going under the knife earlier in the year, but now surgery has become inevitable.
"It hasn't progressed as quickly as we all hoped, and he's worked extremely hard to get back," said Dodgers' President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. "It just isn't happening as quickly as he would like. It's not a totally clear-cut, black-and-white issue. It's more involved than that."
Ryu is expected to miss the remainder of the season, but admittedly, a timetable for his return is unknown until the doctor goes inside the shoulder to determine the severity of the injury.
It is the worst possible news to a team that has long feared that Ryu could be lost for the season. Ryu has gone 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA over the past two seasons as the Dodgers third starter behind Cy Yong winners Clayton Kershaw and Zack Grienke. With Ryu gone, and McCarthy out until 2016 with Tommy John surgery, the Dodgers starting rotation is in shambles.
Currently, the Dodgers have been working with injury prone, Brett Anderson, reliever turned starter, Carlos Frias, and newcomer Mike Bolsinger.
Certainly these three names don't strike fear in National League opponents who would have to face at least one if not two of the three in the playoffs should the Dodgers make it that far.
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The Dodgers have former Atlanta Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy under contract, but the 28-year-old is coming back from two Tommy John surgeries over the past three years. Beachy is expected to make his 2015 debut in the minors next week and could be in the starting rotation as soon as next month.
More than likely, the Dodgers will look for help on the mound via the trade market. With a bounty of infielders available, look for the Dodgers to actively seek a trade for starting pitching making Juan Uribe, Justin Turner or Alex Guerrero available to potential suitors.
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