Hyun-Jin Ryu named NL Player of the Week

Less than 24 hours after arguably one of the best starts of his career, Hyun-Jin Ryu was named the National League Player of the Week.

Over the last week, Ryu made two starts, winning both in convincing fashion. Last Tuesday, he threw a complete game shutout against the Atlanta Braves. In his start, he struck out six, allowed four hits, and didn’t walk a batter.

As if he couldn’t top that performance, Ryu came out and was almost perfect yesterday. He went 7 ¹⁄₃ innings without allowing a hit, until “Dodger-killer” Gerardo Parra ended the no-hit bid with a double. Ryu responded by notching back-to-back outs to end his afternoon. He finished with eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking only one.

At the moment, Ryu is 5-1, with an ERA of 1.72. He has 54 strikeouts in 52 ¹⁄₃ innings, and a WHIP of 0.726, the lowest in all of baseball. On top of that, his strikeout-to-walk ratio is 18:1, by far the highest of his career.

Though it is still early, Ryu is in serious contention for the Cy Young Award. Among NL pitchers, he’s tied for first in wins (5) and third in ERA (1.72).