DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Hyun-Jin Ryu is hoping he can help.

When the 32-year-old left-hander donated approximately $100,000 to the Korea Disaster Relief Association earlier this week, his aim was to assist those who have been affected by coronavirus in his home country, where the number of deaths were up to 46 on Saturday and the number of confirmed cases rose over 7,000.

Ryu’s concern extends beyond the outbreak in South Korea, but he chose the foundation specifically because of the work it has done and the amount of donations that have been funneled through it.

“It wasn’t a difficult decision to make,” said the southpaw -- who signed with the Blue Jays for four years and $82 million in December -- through Korean interpreter Bryan Lee. “The amount, some can say that it’s a lot, some can say that it’s few, but my family gathered around and made that decision all together.”

While many teams and players are taking added measures to ensure that none of their many interactions with others each day affect their health, Ryu made it clear that he wants to continue to do whatever he can to maintain a relationship with fans.

“We had a [team] meeting today regarding coronavirus and one of our club staff [members] told us that we are looking into possible methods and options to go about fan experience,” Ryu said. “There’s no policy yet but being part of the team, I will probably follow whatever resolution we come up with.

“But at the moment, it is important to interact with the fans whether it’s around the field or outside of the field, and that would make their experience much better. Right now, I’m just trying to find a good balance between the two.”

Shoemaker keeps rolling

A leader in the clubhouse and on the field, Matt Shoemaker has worked his way back from the torn ACL that ended his 2019 season after five starts. His presence and early success in Spring Training has given the Blue Jays plenty to be optimistic about as they look ahead to their regular-season rotation.

Shoemaker made his second Grapefruit League start on Sunday and kept his scoreless-innings streak going with four hitless frames in the Blue Jays' 9-0 win over the Phillies at TD Ballpark in Dunedin. The 33-year-old right-hander faced just one batter over the minimum, using 49 pitches, walking one and fanning four in his outing.

“At this point, I’m definitely where I want to be,” Shoemaker said. “I still have a lot of improvements [to make], whether it’s timing, all the mechanical stuff, pitch release, execution, but with that being said, I’m very happy with where I am right now.”

Shoemaker used Sunday’s outing to continue working on all of his offerings, and was happy to report that all of his pitches are already feeling good out of the hand as he keeps working to make them better. After a lengthy comeback, the veteran righty feels as though he’s ahead of schedule heading into the season.

“I probably feel better than I usually do at this point,” he said. “A lot of that is going through this strenuous rehab process -- you work out differently, you focus on … a lot of single-leg stuff that really relates to being on the mound. … I’m definitely where I want to be.”

“He has a great mix of quality pitches. He gets ahead, commands his fastball, his split was good," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. "It’s easy to play defense behind him. … He’s an easy guy to root for, not only because he’s a good pitcher. He’s a great leader in there. He’s been great since we signed him last year.”

Pitching probables
Monday vs. Rays: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Sam Gaviglio, Elvis Luciano, Yennsy Diaz, Patrick Murphy, Marc Rzepczynski, Travis Bergen

Monday @ Pirates: Anthony Kay, Thomas Hatch, Hector Perez, Sean Reid-Foley, Jacob Waguespack, Jake Petricka

Tuesday @ Yankees: Tanner Roark, Shun Yamaguchi, T.J. Zeuch, Anthony Bass, Ty Tice, Ryan Dull, Brian Moran

Up next
The Blue Jays split up for two games on Monday, with Ryu getting the start at TD Ballpark in Dunedin against the Rays, with first pitch set for 1:07 p.m. ET. Toronto’s No. 10 prospect Anthony Kay will take the mound on the road against the Pirates at LECOM Park in Bradenton, with first pitch at 1:05 p.m. ET and streamed live on MLB.TV.