Blue Jays notes: What’s up with Hyun Jin Ryu? And Toronto shuffles rotation for stretch drive – The Athletic

By and large, the starting pitching has developed into a strength for the Blue Jays as the season has gone on. But lately, it’s been hard to ignore the unit’s weak link: Hyun Jin Ryu.

Heading into Friday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Ryu was coming off his shortest outing of the season, pitching only 2 1/3 innings against the Baltimore Orioles, in which he gave up seven runs on eight hits.

Ryu has shown some ability to bounce back from rough outings this year, but that was not the case Friday. The left-hander lasted only two innings against the Twins, surrendering five runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts in the Blue Jays’ eventual 7-3 loss. The loss, paired with wins by both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, dropped the Blue Jays out of the tightly bunched wild-card spots, but only by a half-game.

The Twins pounced on Ryu in the third inning. No. 9 hitter Ryan Jeffers led off with a single, Byron Buxton followed with a double that centre fielder Corey Dickerson bobbled, allowing Jeffers to score and Buxton to advance to third. Jorge Polanco and Josh Donaldson followed with back-to-back home runs.