Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu will face a former KBO pitcher for the second time in his career.

Ryu will start against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 2 at Coors Field in Denver, 바카라 Colorado. It will be the sixth start of the season for Ryu, who made his comeback debut against the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 2.

In his last five starts, Ryu is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA. In 24 innings pitched, he has allowed 19 hits, walked five and struck out 20. Hyun-jin Ryu, who picked up the win against the Cleveland Indians on April 27 with five innings of four-hit, three-run ball, will be looking for his fourth straight win when he takes the mound against Colorado on five days’ rest.

He will be joined on the mound by former KBO starter Chris Flexen.

The Rockies announced on their website that Austin Gomber, Peter Lambert and Kyle Freeland will start a three-game series at home against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 29-31. After a day off on Sept. 1, the rotation for the three-game series against Toronto on Sept. 2-4 will be Flexen, Ty Blach and Gomber.

They will face Ryu Hyun-jin in the first game of the three-game set.

After playing for the Doosan Bears in 2020, Flexen joined the Seattle Mariners in 2021 and went 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA as a starter, but struggled last year, dropping to 8-9 with two saves and a 3.73 ERA in the bullpen. He then struggled this season, making four starts before being demoted to the bullpen and posting a 7.71 ERA before being designated for assignment on June 28.

He was traded to the New York Mets on July 4, but was immediately placed back on the disabled list and released. Colorado, whose starting rotation had collapsed, then signed Flexen to a minor league deal. The Rockies’ starting rotation was weakened by the losses of Herman Marquez, Ryan Feltner, and Antonio Senzatela to injury and surgery.

Flexen is 1-2 with a 5.87 ERA in six starts since joining Colorado. However, he has settled down in his last two starts, allowing five runs (three earned) on 11 hits in a combined 11 innings.

Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks. AFP
Ryu Hyun-jin was the first KBO pitcher to face Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. The then-Los Angeles Dodgers ace was pummeled for seven runs on 10 hits in 4 ⅔ innings, while Kelly gave up three runs on three hits and four walks in four innings of work. It had been four years since he’d faced a pitcher in the KBO. Kelly won 48 games in his career with the SK Wyverns from 2015-2018.

After a stellar 2020 season with Doosan in which he went 8-4 with a 3.01 ERA and a 1.91 ERA in the postseason, Flexen turned down a contract extension and signed a two-year, $4.75 million deal with Seattle to rejoin the major leagues. However, this season, he has been a “floater” and is struggling to make a comeback.

The two former KBO pitchers have faced each other a few times. On April 15, Flexen started against Kelly. Kelly pitched six strong innings, striking out 11 and allowing two runs on five hits, while Flexen gave up four runs on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts in six innings. It was a no-decision that would end with Colorado’s come-from-behind win in the eighth inning.

On May 16, Kelly faced off against the Oakland Athletics’ Drew Ruchinski. Kelly earned his fourth win of the season with seven innings of four-hit, two-run ball, while Luchinski took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits and five walks in 3⅔ innings. Luchinski won 53 games with the NC Dinos in four seasons from 2019-2022 before joining Oakland this year and pitching in four games, and is currently on the disabled list.