Ryu's season-ending elbow injury likely to alter Jays' trade deadline plans

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TORONTO — The actual return on the Toronto Blue Jays’ $80 million investment in Hyun Jin Ryu isn’t going to look overly pretty when all is said and done, but the signing was an absolutely vital step in helping this club return to contention.

Now that the 35-year-old lefty’s 2022 season is over as he gets set to undergo elbow surgery in the near future, the contract GM Ross Atkins handed Ryu in December of 2019 showed not only the fan base but agents and players around the game that the Jays were serious about spending money to surround a dynamic homegrown core with impact veteran talent.

Simply put, without striking the Ryu salvo who knows how things look in subsequent off-seasons. Luring Ryu was the first piece of the puzzle, even if it may be far from the most important piece.

But there’s also no arguing Ryu’s first season with the Jays, spent in Buffalo during a pandemic, was the peak, and the lefty hasn’t enjoyed much success over the past calendar year.

In early August last year, Ryu was cruising with a 3.22 ERA and it looked like he was building off his Cy Young nomination from 2020. But the wheels quickly came off and he finished with a 7.43 ERA over his final 10 starts and the Jays fell one game short of the playoffs.

It didn’t look much better to begin this season, as Ryu allowed 11 earned runs over his first two starts, before landing on the injured list with a bout of forearm soreness.

That ominously morphed into elbow pain when he returned, and then more forearm inflammation sent him back to the 15-day IL earlier this month.

Combine all that and it made Tuesday’s news that Ryu has UCL damage and will be going under the knife not overly shocking.

“He’s extremely disappointed,” Atkins said