Blue Jays: Ryu has been the best of the free agent SP bunch

There may have been even bigger names available last winter, but so far the Blue Jays have had arguably the best performance of them all from Hyun-Jin Ryu.

I know it’s only been eight starts for the southpaw since joining the Blue Jays as a free agent, but so far Hyun-Jin Ryu looks like he’s worth every penny and then some.

The 2019 National League ERA leader was at it again for the Blue Jays on Wednesday, holding Miami to one run on five hits and two walks, while striking out eight Marlins during the outing. It was yet another quality start for the 33-year-old, and in the process he moved to 3-1 while lowering his ERA to 2.72, and his WHIP down to 1.12. There aren’t very many true ace-level starters in baseball, but Ryu is proving once again that belongs in the conversation as one of the best.

In fact, after watching his start on Wednesday night, I was curious to see how his stats stack up against the other free agent starting pitchers that were available this past winter. There were reports that the Blue Jays asked about and pursued other premium options, and when it looked like they may miss out completely on a solid group of free agent starters, they managed to convince Ryu to join them for four years and 80 million, while others signed for longer terms and more money.

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Did that equate to better production for the teams that signed them? Not exactly. Again, it’s extremely early to be making these kind of judgements on the most recent free agent market, but let’s have a look at how things stand at the moment. I didn’t include every single starter that was available, but decided to include the top-end starters that were available, as well as a couple that the Blue Jays were reportedly very interested in.

Ryu- 4 years, 80 million
8 starts, 3-1, 2.72 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 48 k, 43 IP, 1.3 bWAR (*not including Wednesday’s start)

Gerrit Cole– 9 years, 324 million
8 starts, 4-2, 3.91 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 60 K, 46 IP, 1.0 bWAR

Stephen Strasburg– 7 years, 245 million
2 starts, 10.80 ERA, 1.800 WHIP, lost for the season to injury

Zack Wheeler– 5 years, 118 million
7 starts, 4-0, 2.20 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 29 K, 45 IP, 1.8 bWAR

Madison Bumgarner– 5 years, 85 million
4 starts, 0-3, 9.35 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 13 K, 17.1 IP, -0.6 bWAR

Jake Odorizzi– Accepted the qualifying offer
3 starts, 0-1, 8.10 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 10 K, 9.0 IP, -0.3 bWAR

Dallas Keuchel– 3 years, 55 million 
8 starts, 5-2, 2.42 ERA, 1.117 WHIP, 30 K, 48.1 IP, 1.3 bWAR

Kyle Gibson– 3 years, 28 million
7 starts, 1-4, 6.16 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 34 K, 38 IP, -0.5 bWAR

Again, we’re looking at a very small sample size, but the Blue Jays have to be pretty encouraged by what they’re getting from Ryu right now. It looks even better when you compare his production to past fellow free agents who have been injured, or who haven’t pitched up to expectations. Strasburg was barely able to pitch before being lost for the year, and it hasn’t been a whole lot better for Bumgarner or Odorizzi. Gibson has been pretty terrible since joining the Rangers, and respectfully, it feels like the Jays dodged a bullet when they weren’t able to sign him last winter.

As far as contenders for the best of this free agent class, it comes down to Ryu, Wheeler, and Keuchel. All three would be headed to the All-Star game in a normal season, and have been well worth their contracts thus far. As far as WAR leaders go, Wheeler would be at the top of the heap at 1.8, but Ryu’s 1.3 will move up once his quality start from Wednesday is included in his total. You could make an argument for either, or Keuchel as well, but for the Blue Jays Ryu has been exactly what was needed for this young roster, and for the relatively inexperienced pitching staff.

He’s provided a feeling for the Blue Jays that they haven’t had since the likes of David Price, or even Roy Halladay used to give them. It feels like they’re going to win at least once every five days, and that’s exactly what you hope to get out of your number one starter. If not for the one bad outing against Washington in his second start of the year, when he gave up five runs over just 4.1 innings, the beginning of his Blue Jays tenure would be borderline historic for the franchise. Not that you can just erase one start, but if you could for Ryu in this case, his ERA would drop to 1.86, and his WHIP to 0.983.

When you consider the veteran guidance he’s provided for several teammates, the reliable contribution he consistently gives his manager, and the relatively low cost to acquire the ace, I’m not sure what else we could be asking for so far.