The main character of the third Asian pitcher in the Major League (MLB), who could have been fierce competition, with 100 wins was decided rather futilely. Can Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto Blue Jays), who lost the title, step on the hill for the third time?먹튀검증
Darvish Yu (37, Japan) of the San Diego Padres started as a starting pitcher in the 2023 Major League away game held at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, USA on the 10th (Korean time), recording 5 hits, 4 walks, 6 strikeouts and 4 runs in 5⅓ innings. became the winning pitcher.
He wasn’t a very happy pitcher. He cruised through the fifth inning, giving up only one run, but was demolished in the sixth inning with concentrated hits. However, he already provided 8 runs from the lineup and gave up 2 runs from the bullpen, but he held on to the lead and won 9-6. With that, Darvish won his 5th win of the season.
The win was Darvish’s 100th win in his big league career. He made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2012 and recorded 95 wins until last year. Having won five double-digit multipliers (2012-2014, 2017, 2022), he has established himself as a top-notch pitcher in the big leagues to the point of being in the top 10 four times in the Cy Young Award voting.
Darvish Yu. /Photo = San Diego club official SNSIn 2021, the first season after moving to San Diego, Darvish, who had only 8 wins and 11 losses and an average ERA of 4.22 due to overlapping injuries and sluggishness, succeeded in reviving with 16 wins and an average ERA of 3.10 last year. And after the season, he signed a six-year, $108 million (approximately 139.6 billion won) extension with San Diego.
And until just a few years ago, there was a player who fiercely competed with Darvish for a total of 100 wins, so it was Ryu Hyun-jin. He recorded 75 wins, 45 losses, 1 save, and an ERA of 3.27 over nine major league seasons. With a career difference of 25 wins against Darvish, the gap has widened considerably.
But even two years ago, the situation was different. At the end of the 2021 season, Darvish had 79 wins and Ryu Hyun-jin had 73 wins, a difference of only 6 wins. Ryu Hyun-jin did not show much difference from Darvish, who debuted a year earlier (Darvish in 2012, Ryu Hyun-jin in 2013).
Darvish underwent Tommy John surgery (elbow ligament joint surgery) in 2015 and only pitched 100⅓ innings for two years, but Ryu Hyun-jin also got on the operating table due to a shoulder injury at the same time and threw only 4⅔ innings in one game for two seasons. That’s why it could be said that Ryu Hyun-jin’s pace was rather fast. Depending on the circumstances, he was able to overturn the rankings.
Hyunjin Ryu. /AFPBBNews=News1However, Darvish has had a career without major injury issues, except for 40 innings with an elbow injury in 2018. On the other hand, Ryu Hyun-jin was put on the injured list (IL) due to elbow and neck pain in the 2021 season, and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery in June of last year and was out of the season.
It has already handed over the third 100-win title in Asia following Park Chan-ho (50, 124 wins in total) and Nomo Hideo (55, 123 wins in total). However, Ryu Hyun-jin can achieve 100 wins even after Darvish. Currently, the active player with the most wins after Darvish is Masahiro Tanaka (35, Rakuten), who has won 78 wins. However, as Tanaka returned to Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) at the end of the 2020 season, it became difficult to add multipliers.
Ryu Hyun-jin, who is currently undergoing rehabilitation, is highly likely to return with the start of the second half. Ryu Hyun-jin, who can pitch 10 times, will overtake Tanaka with only 4 wins here. After that, if you sign a free agent contract for about 2-3 years and spend a healthy career, you can occupy the 100-win high enough.
It’s not impossible. Recently, there are many cases in which large contracts are won even at the age of 40. Justin Verlander (40, New York Mets), who had a knife on his elbow at the age of 37, older than Ryu Hyun-jin, won the American League Cy Young Award with 18 wins and an average ERA of 1.75 after returning last year. He ranked first in the overall salary of pitchers in the 2023 season (43.33 million dollars, about 56 billion won).