Hyun-Jin Ryu To Make 2016 Debut Thursday

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu will make his long-awaited 2016 debut against the San Diego Padres Thursday after being sidelined for 640 days.

Ryu missed the entire 2015 season and first three months of the 2016 season after surgery was needed to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

The lefty from South Korea last pitched in a major league game back in 2014 during the NLDS in which the Dodgers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1.

He made eight starts while participating in a minor league rehabilitation assignment that was halted in mid-May due to shoulder discomfort.

During Ryu's final rehab stint, he made five starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City, and made his final start last Friday for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in which he threw 84 pitches over six innings.

The lefty's fastball has been reported to be reaching 90 mph and averaging 86 mph.

"So far what I have accomplished as far as rehab goals, gaining all my pitches in quite a few outings, I think I'm pretty much ready to go," Ryu said through an interpreter according to MLB.com.

Ryu will be the second rehab comeback in a week for the Dodgers after Brandon McCarthy pitched five scoreless innings Sunday in his first start in over a year.

Having both starters return to the Dodgers' rotation couldn't come at a better time, as the team's pitching staff seemed to be thinning out after ace and All-Star Clayton Kershaw found himself on the disabled list with back soreness.

"It's starting to come together," Roberts told MLB.com. "I know the narrative all winter and throughout the season was depth and it's good to see that it's played out to really save us. It's not just rhetoric. Now to get Brandon back, to see the way he threw, to see Ryu, I think these guys are really wanting to take it upon themselves. You lose Clayton, so guys step up and want to do their part."