Los Angeles Dodgers' South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin has had his start pushed up by a day due to a teammate's illness.
The Dodgers announced Sunday (local time) that Ryu and Alex Wood would swap their starts for the upcoming two-game series against the Oakland Athletics.
Ryu had been scheduled to start Wednesday, a day after Wood. But Ryu will take the mound Tuesday instead, after Wood came down with food poisoning and missed a scheduled bullpen session Sunday. Manager Dave Roberts said Wood would need an extra day to recover.
Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch during the fourth inning of a major league regular season game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 2 at Chase Field in Phoenix. (AP-Yonhap)
Ryu began the season as the Dodgers' fifth starter, and he hasn't pitched since making his season debut against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Monday.
Ryu would have had his next turn Sunday after a six-day rest, but the Dodgers instead went with their No. 1 man, Clayton Kershaw, so that he could stay on his regular, five-day cycle.
Ryu, who made his big league debut in 2013, has never faced the Athletics in his career. He looked shaky against the D-Backs a week ago, giving up three earned runs on five hits and five walks in 3 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers had a game against the San Francisco Giants rained out last Friday, which further complicated the picture for their starting rotation.
The Dodgers don't play Monday and Thursday. Roberts said after the Oakland series, Kershaw, Rich Hill and Kenta Maeda would start the weekend series against the Diamondbacks, but their order hasn't been determined.
Maeda, who was scheduled to start last Friday, has been sent to the bullpen and pitched a scoreless inning in relief Saturday. Hill started that Saturday's game. (Yonhap)
