Background and career
Hyun-jin Ryu (Korean: 류현진; Hanja: 柳賢振; pronounced [ɾju.çʌndʑin]; born March 25, 1987) is a South Korean professional baseball pitcher for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. In 2013, after spending seven seasons with the Eagles, he became the first player from the KBO to join an MLB team via the posting system. During the 2018 World Series, Ryu became the first Korean pitcher to start in a World Series game. In 2019, he finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting and was named an All-Star for the first time. That year, he led MLB in earned run average (ERA) and had a 1.26 ERA after 14 starts, the lowest by a Dodgers pitcher since the statistic became official in 1912. After pitching four seasons for the Blue Jays, Ryu returned to Korea in 2024.
Ryu was born in Incheon, South Korea on March 25, 1987, and attended Incheon's Dongsan High School. He is working towards a master's degree in community physical education in Daejeon University. When Ryu was 10, his father bought him a lefthander's glove that goes on the right hand, so Ryu learned to pitch with his left hand.
In 2004, Ryu underwent Tommy John surgery and did not pitch in any official games. In 2005, he led his team to the Blue Dragon Open National High School Championship, pitching 22 consecutive scoreless innings as the team's ace and batting .389 in the tournament. He was named Best Pitcher. In 2005, Ryu was selected for the South Korea junior national team that was runner-up in the sixth Asian Junior Baseball Championship in Seoul, South Korea. Ryu started the semifinal match against Chinese Taipei, and helped his team reach the final, recording ten strikeouts and giving up one unearned run on four hits in six innings. During the competition, he pitched 8+1⁄3 innings with 14 strikeouts, and gave up an unearned run on five hits in three games (one start). He competed at the 60th National High School Baseball Championship in 2005, when as a third-year student in high school. In the game against Seongnam High School in the quarterfinals, he pitched a shutout, striking out 17.
In July 2005, Ryu was selected by the Hanwha Eagles as the 1st pick in the second round of the 2006 KBO League Draft, and made his professional debut on April 12, 2006. In his rookie year of 2006, Ryu finished with an 18–6 win–loss record, a 2.23 ERA and 205 strikeouts in 201.2 innings pitched. He earned the pitching Triple Crown, and was eventually named both Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year. He became the only player in KBO history to win both the Rookie of the Year award and the MVP award in the same season. In the 2006 season, at the age of 19, he became the first Korean player to win the Rookie of the Year and MVP at the same time in 25 years, and the second pitcher to win the Triple Crown after Sun Dong-yol. In 2006, he participated in the Asian Games. In August 2008, Ryu competed for the South Korea national baseball team in the 2008 Summer Olympics, where they won the gold medal in the baseball tournament. In the team's third game of round-robin play, Ryu pitched a 1–0 complete-game shutout victory over Canada, giving up five hits. In the gold medal game against Cuba, he pitched 81⁄3 innings, allowing two earned runs in a 3–2 victory. In March 2009, he represented the South Korea national baseball team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, where the team was the runner-up to the eventual champion, Japan. In 2010, Ryu played in the 2010 Asian Games, where South Korea won the gold medal in baseball. On May 11, 2010, Ryu became the first pitcher in history to strike out 17 batters in a nine-inning game, against the LG Twins at Cheongju Sports Complex Baseball Stadium. In 2012, Ryu finished with a 2.66 ERA and 210 strikeouts, but earned only a 9–9 win–loss record and ten no decisions. Ryu repeatedly expressed his desire to play in the United States for Major League Baseball and scouts from many MLB teams visited Korea to see Ryu's pitching. Finally, on October 29, 2012, the Eagles announced that Ryu would be posted as early as November 1, 2012, to allow MLB teams to bid for the right to negotiate with him.
On November 9, 2012, the Eagles accepted the reported bid of $25.7M from the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving them a 30-day period to try to negotiate a contract with Ryu. On December 9, he was signed to a six-year, $36 million deal, that included the option to opt out after the fifth year if certain performance benchmarks were reached (750 innings pitched by year 5, an average of 150 innings/year).
On March 17, 2013, Ryu recorded his first win as a Dodger, albeit in a spring training game on St. Patrick's Day. He allowed just one run in 5+2⁄3 innings, and retired the final 11 men he faced. He struck out six and allowed just five to reach base. Ryu made his Major League Baseball debut in a start against the San Francisco Giants on April 2, 2013. He allowed 10 hits in 6.1 innings but only one earned run. Ryu picked up his first Major League win on April 7 over the Pittsburgh Pirates. On April 13 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he recorded his first major league hit with a double in the third inning. He wound up 3 for 3 at the plate in the game, the first Dodgers pitcher to get three hits in a game since Randy Wolf in 2009. This game was also his 100th career win, in South Korea and the U.S. combined. On May 1, 2013, Ryu pitched six innings against the Colorado Rockies and struck out 12 batters, his highest strikeout count in an MLB game so far. On May 28, 2013, Ryu pitched a complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, striking out seven batters, walking none, and conceding only two hits. It was the first shutout in Ryu's MLB career and the first shutout for a Korean-born pitcher since Chan Ho Park and Sun-woo Kim. In 30 starts with the Dodgers in 2013, Ryu was 14–8 with a 3.00 ERA. He was selected by Baseball America to their annual "All-Rookie team".
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
