It's not the way he wanted to end it, but following a loss to the Dominican Republic in the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) on Friday, South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin announced his retirement from international play.
Ryu was the losing pitcher in a 10-0 Dominican victory over South Korea at loanDepot park in Miami, where the left-handed starter allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings.
"I think this is it for me," said Ryu, who turns 39 on March 25. "The ending is disappointing, but it's been an honor to be back on the national team to be around this group of guys."
This was Ryu's first WBC since 2009 and his first international duty since the 2010 Asian Games. Ryu, who began his career in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) in 2006, hadn't been able to represent the country while pitching in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2013 to 2023. He returned to the KBO before the 2024 season and made the national team one last time this spring.
Thanks to his MLB success -- he was the major league ERA leader in 2019 and finished runner-up in the National League Cy Young voting that year -- Ryu is widely considered the best South Korean pitcher of this century. Manager Ryu Ji-hyun entrusted the crafty left-hander with the crucial start against the powerful Dominican lineup, featuring All-Star sluggers, such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Juan Soto and Manny Machado.
Ryu Hyun-jin pitched a clean first inning but couldn't get out of the second inning.
"I was not able to give our fielders time to get settled into this game," he said. "It's just disappointing. But I think this will go down as a huge learning experience for our young players. I feel that these guys will play much better at future tournaments, and I hope they see this game as the starting point.
That Ryu got the starting nod at his advanced age in such an important game is also an indictment on the lack of pitching depth for South Korea, but Ryu chose to see the brighter side.
"I am sure facing such great MLB hitters taught our young pitchers a few lessons, and it will really help Korean baseball as a whole," Ryu said.
In his international career, Ryu helped South Korea grab the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and appeared in five games during the country's run to the final at the 2009 WBC.
South Korea won the 2010 Asian Games gold medal with Ryu manning the pitching staff too.
Ryu didn't have quite the storybook ending Friday. He walked Guerrero, his former Toronto Blue Jays teammate, to begin the second inning, and Guerrero later scored from first on a double by Junior Caminero.
Ryu threw a curveball that appeared headed for the dirt at home plate, but Caminero golfed it to deep left field. Guerrero then scored with a headfirst slide when a relay throw from shortstop Kim Ju-won pulled catcher Park Dong-won away from home.
Caminero took third on the play and scored on a Julio Rodriguez groundout.
Ryu allowed a walk and then a single before an RBI hit by Tatis made it a 3-0 game and chased Ryu from the mound. (Yonhap)
