Where do I start? Since the beginning of his tenure with the Dodgers, Ryu has been plagued with injuries. There has not been a season that he has been fully healthy.

2013 - sore left foot

2014 - buttock muscle pain and left shoulder irritation

2015 - Left shoulder surgery to treat impingement and labral repair

2015 - Tightening of mid-back, right leg injury

2016 - left elbow injury

2017 - Left hip contusion when sliding - 10 day DL

2018 - left hip (unknown)

Tale of the Tape:

1) Decrease right pelvic rotation and spinal rotation due to insufficient hip internal rotation on left

2) tight lateral hamstring on left

3) decreased hip flexion on right

4) tight hip flexors bilaterally with pelvis/hip rotation to compensate

5) thoracic mobility problems and pec tightness (sternal fibers)

At this point, I would suspect that Ryu has the beginnings of osteo-arthritis in the left hip based off his movements. This could be very bad (but not unfixable) due to the fact that he is a left handed pitcher and needs full mobility to drive and get power off his left leg. It seems like his limited left hip mobility causes him to overextend his right hip for landing on front foot which then creates an excessive knee extension moment causing too much strain on his structures on the back of his right knee.

Recommendation: Unless he undertakes a major overhaul approach to his hip mobility and pelvis stability, Ryu's potential to be a major factor for the Dodgers is just that, potential. The Dodgers might want to look at moving on soon if Ryu can't make the adjustments.

The Injury Analyst is a blog dedicated to not only explaining injuries that have occurred, but predicting and highlighting future injury risks for professional athletes. You can email us at info@jamsportsandspine.com

Note: I have not seen the subject of this article personally in clinic, rather all views and opinions of the author have been made based off of video footage of the athlete. This article is not meant as a diagnosis or a treatment plan.