After a 162-game regular season, Major League Baseball enters the postseason. Only 12 of the 30 teams survived the regular season to compete for the World Series title.
The 2023 Major League Baseball regular season effectively ended on April 2. With a suspended game between the Miami Marlins and New York Mets on the 3rd, the postseason is already set.
In the National League, the Atlanta Braves (East), Los Angeles Dodgers (West), and Milwaukee Brewers (Central) punched their tickets to the postseason, along with the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks (plus wild cards).
In the American League, the Baltimore Orioles (East), Minnesota Twins (Central), Houston Astros (West) and Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays (plus wild card) will play “fall baseball.
The postseason begins in earnest on April 4. The district winners, Minnesota and Milwaukee, and the wild card teams will play a best-of-three wild-card series to determine who advances to the division series.
Ryu Hyun-jin (36, Toronto) is the only South Korean player to play fall baseball. After a lengthy rehabilitation following elbow surgery last year, he returned to the team in August. His team, Toronto, is also in the wild card hunt after a hard-fought battle.
They will face Central Division winner Minnesota in the wild card game. Minnesota won the Central Division in a crowded field of underdogs and had a lower regular-season winning percentage (87-75-0.537) than Toronto (89-73-0.549), giving Toronto the edge.
If Toronto does make it through the Wild Card Series, they will meet defending champion Houston in the Division Series. The Astros, who won the World Series last year, have been on a tear since the middle of the season and have claimed the West crown.
However, Ryu Hyun-jin will not be utilized much in the postseason. After a lengthy rehabilitation after surgery, he performed well but struggled to go the distance. He also pitched two games in a row against Tampa Bay at the end of the season, with poor results.
Toronto is expected to use a four-man starting rotation of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassett, Jose Berrios, and Yusei Kikuchi in the postseason. Hyun-jin Ryu said he doesn’t mind the position, saying, “I’ll do whatever the team wants me to do, whether it’s starting or bullpen.” 토토사이트
It’s also unclear if he’ll make the postseason roster. MLB.com projected Toronto’s 26-man roster for the day, and Ryu was one of the players they projected to miss. It’s not going to be easy for him to make the starting four, or to suddenly switch to the bullpen.
Ryu is a free agent after this season, and it’s possible that he won’t be able to pitch in a Toronto uniform for much longer.
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