Hyun-Jin Ryu will get skipped start

Hyun-Jin Ryu hasn’t been on his game lately. He hasn’t been able to get out of the fifth inning in each of his last three starts, giving up a total of 17 innings in 13 ¹⁄₃ combined innings. Needless to say this is unusual for a guy who had a 1.64 ERA in mid-August.

The Korean Monster needs some time to shake this off, and that’s what he’s getting. Luckily, there are several factors that allow this to be possible.

First, the Dodgers pitching staff is full of capable starting pitchers. Besides Ryu, there are currently seven guys who can start on the mound if needed. Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Julio Urías, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Kenta Maeda and Ross Stripling. With all of these pitching options, it’s only reasonable to give Ryu a short break.

Before Friday night’s game against the Giants, Dave Roberts announced Ryu will get a skipped start when the team is in Baltimore. And Rich Hill’s return was the catalyst for this happening. He will return to the team on Sept. 12 in Baltimore. It will be the first of four starts he makes to finish the regular season, and he will most likely be available for the postseason.

Roberts also announced that Walker Buehler will be pushed back a start to get an extra day of rest. It’s also in part to build up Urías for longer starts.

Here are the probable starters for the upcoming week:

• Friday, Sept. 6 — Kershaw
• Saturday, Sept. 7 — Gonsolin
• Sunday, Sept. 8 — Urías
• Tuesday, Sept. 10 — Buehler
• Wednesday, Sept. 11 — TBD
• Thursday, Sept. 12 — Rich Hill

There’s also an update on Max Muncy’s recovery. Things seem to be progressing at a good pace with him.