“Command wasn’t there,” manager sees reason for Ryu’s struggles

After his worst pitching performance of the season, Ryu Hyun-jin’s diagnosis was simple.

In an interview following the Toronto Blue Jays’ 6-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Thursday (July 24), Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider shared his thoughts on starter Hyun-jin Ryu, who gave up five runs on seven hits, three home runs, three walks and two strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

“He’s a really good pitcher, but he didn’t have good command today,” he said, pointing to his shaky command as a reason for the big innings.

Ryu didn’t look like himself on this day, allowing three home runs and a walk. He gave up five runs on three homers.

“I didn’t want to put too much pressure on the bullpen, so I thought he needed to go long,” said Schneider, who kept Ryu in the game until the fifth inning. “I think we took him out at the right time based on the pitch count,” he added.

Were there any other concerns besides command? Schneider shook his head emphatically.

“Ryu is a guy that if he puts the ball in the right spot, everything works. Today, he really struggled with getting first-pitch strikes and working out of unfavorable counts. The walks weren’t there, but I don’t think there was anything else, it was just a command issue.”

Toronto eventually caught up despite Ryu allowing five runs. It was a bullpen effort. “The bullpen did a great job, especially Chad Green, I can’t say enough about him,” Schneider said.

As for the offense, “Everybody did their job. They understood where we were and they never gave up. It’s a tough task to come back from a five-run deficit against that good pitching staff.”먹튀검증

Toronto, however, lost the game in the ninth inning when Jordan Romano collapsed.

“He chipped a nail yesterday while pitching. It was just to check it out,” Schneider said, explaining his visit to the mound during the ninth inning. “He said, ‘It’s fine. You can throw. I’ll see you in a little bit. I don’t think it affected his pitching,” he said, adding that it probably didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

“He’s our closer, and we trust him in any situation,” he said when asked why he had lefty Tim Mayza ready to go but didn’t send lefty Josh Lowe out to face him. He added that he had planned to use Mayza in an extended role in a bullpen draining situation.

“They’re a good team with a good lineup. We’re a good team, too. I think both teams played a good game,” he said.