The Toronto Blue Jays, to which Ryu Hyun-jin belongs, will begin construction at the Rogers Center, their home stadium.
Toronto announced on the 28th (Korean time), “We are going into construction to change the width of the Rogers Center outfield and the height of the fence.” The Toronto club will spend about 300 million dollars (about 370 billion won) on a large-scale remodeling.
The distance from the home plate of the Rogers Center to the left and right field is the same, but the distance between left and right is reduced. The left-middle distance is expected to be reduced by 2.13m and the right-middle distance by 4.88m.
Instead of shortening the distance, the left and right walls are raised by 1.32m to 4.37m. If the fence is higher, the number of home runs will decrease, but since the number of balls that hit the wall directly increases, the outfielder must accurately judge how to handle the bounced ball. However, the height of the central wall will be lowered from 3.05m to 2.44m.
Toronto parted ways with outfielders Teosca Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. this winter and recruited quick-witted outfielders Kevin Kiermeier and Dalton Basho. Toronto Baseball Division President Mark Shapairo predicted, “You will be able to see interesting batting movements when attacking.” 안전놀이터
How will the changes at the Rogers Center affect Ryu Hyun-jin? Ryu Hyun-jin is a pitcher who mainly throws a fastball and a changeup, and if the balance is not right, his avoidance slugging rate increases. Ryu Hyun-jin’s slugging percentage (0.541) exceeded 0.500 for the first time last year.
Ryu Hyun-jin’s batting average (0.248) against left-handed hitters in his major league career is lower than that against right-handed hitters (0.259). He has achieved good results by catching left-handed hitters well, but if the distance to the right-middle fence is shortened, the stats against left-handed hitters may deteriorate. This is why Ryu Hyun-jin has to change according to the construction of the Rogers Center.
Meanwhile, Ryu Hyun-jin is in the final season of a four-year contract with Toronto this year. Ryu Hyun-jin, who underwent elbow ligament joint surgery after a season out in August last year, is striving for rehabilitation with the goal of returning in the second half of this year. Unlike previous years when he left the country in January, he left early in December, revealing his will to rehabilitate.
While leaving Korea, Ryu Hyun-jin said, “I will train with the thought that I want to return quickly within the period. After that, I have to do well. That is the only way. If it goes according to schedule, I think I can go out as soon as the All-Star break is over. I will only watch July and prepare.” expressed his determination.
