LOS ANGELES -- Hyun-Jin Ryu seemed to have found his groove in his last four outings after he had missed the last two seasons because of elbow and shoulder surgeries.
Ryu had worked his way back into the Dodgers' rotation, and in a start against the Nationals, he showed an uptick in his velocity and threw at least seven innings for the first time since 2014, which was encouraging for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
But on Sunday, there was something missing from Ryu in the Dodgers' 9-7 comeback victory against the Reds.
"I just felt that the conviction we talked about and the fire we talked about … today it wasn't, where it was his last start," Roberts said.
The Reds knocked around Ryu and belted three home runs and six hits in four innings.
"I was definitely disappointed I couldn't get through the first five innings," said Ryu, who has a 2-6 record this season.
Ryu has been one of the wild cards in the Dodgers continuously changing pitching rotation. Roberts moved Ryu to the bullpen for a short period of time, and he responded by notching a four-inning save against the Cardinals on May 25.
Ryu has one of the more difficult gameday routines because of past injuries and said he's still figuring out how to keep his pitching repertoire in good shape.
Roberts said he wasn't sure if physical issues could be the blame for Ryu's struggles or his dip in velocity on Sunday, but for now, the lefty will get another start and will stay in the Dodgers rotation.
"We need him to come out there and throw the baseball like he can," Roberts said. "For us to see that the 92s the 93s … it's not necessarily about the gun, but I still believe that there was more in there than in the fastball he had today."