[엑스포츠뉴스 김현세 기자] Ryu Hyun-jin (34, Toronto Blue Jays) will step on the starting mound for the opening game of the major leagues for three consecutive years.
According to MLB.com, Toronto coach Charlie Monteyo will play the New York Yankees at the Yankee Stadium in New York on April 2 after the 2021 Major League demonstration match against the Philadelphia Phillies held at Dunedin TD Ball Park in Florida, USA on April 2nd (KST). And the starting pitcher of the opening game of the major league regular season was Ryu Hyun-jin.
The media said, “Toronto’s immovable ace Ryu Hyun-jin scored an ERA of 2.69 in the 2020 season, ranking 3rd in the American League Cy Young’s voting, and then stepping on the ground as a team ace for two consecutive seasons. It was an easy decision to decide.
“I was thinking that way from the beginning,” said Montoya. “We have to see how we trained during the spring camp, how we pitched after starting, and how it has progressed from previous years. Now Hyun-jin Ryu has done everything necessary to get on the spot, and it was easy to decide that he was the starting pitcher for our team’s opening game.
Ryu Hyun-jin will be starting in the opening game of the major leagues for three consecutive years until the opening game of this season. This is the first Korean player. Park Chan-ho has been starting in the opening game of the major leagues for two years in a row since 2001, but Ryu Hyun-jin started in the opening game with the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2019 LA Dodgers, followed by the Tampa Bay race last season and the opening game.
On the 27th, Ryu Hyun-jin finally adjusted his sense of practice after a demonstration game with Philadelphia on the 27th. He scored 8 hits (1 home run) 4 shots and 3 runs in 4 innings. Ryu Hyun-jin focused on raising the number of pitches in time for the opening game. According to MLB.com, Ryu Hyun-jin thought’everything went as planned.’
After the game, Ryu Hyun-jin said in a video interview with the reporter,’It’s a pleasant thing to play wherever the opening game is played’ and that’any player will think like this’.
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