The obvious is finally official. Hyun-Jin Ryu will get the ball on Opening Day against the Rays in St. Petersburg, manager Charlie Montoyo announced on Sunday.
Ryu was up to five innings and nearly 80 pitches in his most recent intrasquad start on Saturday, so he should be operating close to a full workload. This will be Ryu’s second consecutive Opening Day start and first with the Blue Jays after signing a four-year, $80 million deal this past offseason. He picked up a victory over the D-backs in the Dodgers' season opener in 2019.
Ryu, who finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting last season, went 14-5 with a 2.32 ERA. He was a front-runner for the award after a dominant first half of the season in which he was 10-2 with a 1.73 ERA over 17 starts.