Home > Sports > Baseball

Veteran pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin returns to first WBC in 17 years

Published: 03 Mar. 2026, 13:01 Updated: 03 Mar. 2026, 16:34

Ryu Hyun-jin of Korea reacts after completing the bottom of the seventh inning of an exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers ahead of the World Baseball Classic at Kyocera Dome in Osaka on March 2. [YONHAP]

Gearing up for his first World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 17 years, left-hander Ryu Hyun-jin on Monday demonstrated the kind of class that can make him a valuable presence on the Korean pitching staff even at his advanced age.

Ryu worked two scoreless innings against the Hanshin Tigers at Kyocera Dome, as Korea took a 3-3 tie in its first exhibition game.

About three weeks shy of his 39th birthday, Ryu no longer throws as hard as he once did. But he can still be effective by changing the speeds of his pitches and hitting the corners with offspeed pitches. The left-hander did touch 145 kilometers (90 miles) per hour with his fastball and he consistently kept Hanshin hitters off balance.

Ryu got Ukyo Maegawa to ground out to begin the sixth inning, and then retired Hayato Nakagawa on a groundball to first, getting him to swing at a 2-2 changeup on the outside.

Nozomu Takatera couldn't time his swing on a curveball and bounced one weakly back toward the mound for the third out of the inning.

In the seventh, Ryu fell behind 3-1 on Dan Onodera but kept attacking the zone before getting him to ground out to the pitcher. Torai Fushimi swung at the first pitch he saw but bounced out to first.

Shoto Tanihata singled off Ryu but the pitcher retired Ryuhei Obata on a lineout to shortstop to cap his tidy outing.

"I had pretty good command and I threw harder than I did in Okinawa [during earlier training camp]," Ryu said. "I am not a strikeout pitcher, and so it's great to get as many groundouts as I did today."

A career starter, Ryu has little experience pitching out of the bullpen and has struggled on the few occasions that he has done so. But on a team with younger starters who can throw harder, Ryu may not be leaned on for a starting assignment once the WBC begins in Tokyo on Thursday.

And if Monday's outing can be any indication, Ryu will still help Korea in another capacity.

"I am going to ramp up a little more before the start of the WBC," Ryu said. "At the moment, things are going pretty well overall, as far as velocity and command are concerned."

Ryu also had a fan in the opposing dugout — Tigers manager and former star pitcher Kyuji Fujikawa.

"I've known him since I was an active player. He is a veteran pitcher now and his repertoire has become even better," Fujikawa said, when asked to pick a Korean pitcher that impressed him the most. "He is the leader for Korean pitchers, in terms of his mental support and his pitching abilities."

Ryu's last WBC appearance came in 2009, when Korea lost to Japan in the final. It is also the last time Korea made it out of the first round.

Yonhap