2016 Dodgers review: Hyun-jin Ryu

2016 was essentially a lost season for Dodgers pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu, his second straight.

What went right

Ryu worked his way back from 2015 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, and finally pitched again in the majors on July 7, after missing a year and a half.

What went wrong

In that start, Ryu allowed at least a run in four of the five innings he started, and took the loss against the Padres.

But to make matters worse, that was his only start of the year. Soon after, Ryu reported elbow discomfort and he was placed on the disabled list with left elbow discomfort.

Ryu had arthroscopic surgery to remove damaged tissue in his elbow during the final week of the regular season, making for a third straight offseason of rehab.

The left-hander returned to South Korea last week to continue his rehab, per Yonhap News, and could return to the U.S. as early as January to begin preparing for spring training.

“In the planning process, we can’t plan on him to be our No. 3 starter or anything, but if he’s healthy, he’s going to be in our rotation,” general manager Farhan Zaidi said at the GM meetings last week, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “If healthy, he’s still one of the top starting pitchers in the NL.”

2016 particulars

Age: 29

Stats: 1 start, 11.57 ERA, 4⅔ IP, 2 BB, 4 K

Salary: $7 million

Game of the year

Ryu just had the one game in 2016, and it didn’t end well. So we’ll dig down deeper and note that he retired the side in order in the third inning with a strikeout.

Roster status

Ryu is under contract through 2018, at $7 million each season. Ryu can opt out of his deal after 2017 if he totals 750 career innings by the end of next season.

He is just 401⅓ innings shy heading into 2017. That would be the highest total by a Dodger since Bob Caruthers back in 1889.