Hyun-Jin Ryu staying with Blue Jays in Dunedin during MLB season delay
The start of baseball season has been delayed indefinitely, and players around Major League Baseball have been given clearance to head back to their respective homes to wait for the green light to get back outside and back on the field.
For some players, getting back to their homes is easier than others, and the current perils of international travel in the time of a pandemic makes it especially challenging for players that come from outside the United States.
Korean pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Toronto Blue Jays is among those international players, and he is reportedly opting to stick around the team’s spring training facility even as the timeline for games remains a great unknown.
Can confirm Hyun Jin Ryu plans on remaining in Dunedin, Florida, even though he had the option to leave. Status quo as far as his preparation. Ryu continues to work out daily from TD Ballpark. https://t.co/O5m4aPVSEB
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) March 18, 2020
Ryu is working out daily at the TD Ballpark in Dunedin, the spring home of the Blue Jays, according to Hazel Mae of Sportsnet.
The club’s biggest splash in the offseason, Ryu is entering the first season of a four-year, $80-million deal.
Ryu not able to come to Toronto yet
Korean baseball insider Daniel Kim was among the media to speak with Ryu, and revealed that the abrupt finish to spring training means the Blue Jays’ pitcher has not yet completed his Work Permit papers for 2020.
When Korean media briefly spoke to Hyun Jin Ryu at TD Park on Monday, he said he was going thru papers for (which is normal at this time of the year for foreign born players) Work Permit for 2020. That leads me to believe that his paper work is still being processed at this time.
— Daniel Kim 대니얼 김 (@DanielKimW) March 18, 2020
Ryu, with his wife who is more than six months pregnant, appear unable to return to South Korea or head to their newly adopted home town in Toronto.
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