Baseball America: 2009 WBC Top 20 Prospects
1. Yu Darvish, rhp, Japan
2. Aroldis Chapman, lhp, Cuba
3. Hisahi Iwakuma, rhp, Japan
4. Masahiro Tanaka, rhp, Japan
5. Hyun-Jin Ryu, lhp, Korea
6. Yoennis Cespedes, cf, Cuba
7. Norichika Aoki, of, Japan
8. Youleski Gourriel, 2b, Cuba
9. Kwang-Hyun Kim, lhp, Korea
10. Hiroyuki Nakajima, ss, Japan
11. Hector Olivera, ss, Cuba
12. Vladimir Garcia, rhp, Cuba
13. Frederich Cepeda, of, Cuba
14. Takahiro Mahara, rhp, Japan
15. Kyuji Fujikawa, rhp, Japan
16. Shuichi Murata, 3b, Japan
17. Alfredo Despaigne, of, Cuba
18. Suk Min-Yoon, rhp Korea
19. Hyun-Soo Kim, of, Korea
20. Toshiya Sugiuchi, lhp, Japan
5. Hyun-Jin Ryu, lhp, Korea
When scouts see Ryu's portly frame, his goofiness and his knack for
rising to the occasion, it's not hard to see why he's compared to David
Wells.
In South Korea, Ryu became the first player to be named the league's
rookie of the year and MVP in the same season, as he went 18-6, 2.23
with 205 strikeouts in 202 innings in 2006, leading the league in wins,
ERA and strikeouts.
Ryu was the star as Korea surprised everyone to beat Cuba and win gold
at the 2008 Olympics. He went 2-0, 1.04 in the tournament, including a
masterful 8 1/3 innings in the gold-medal winning 3-2 win over Cuba.
Ryu played a very important, but slightly subordinate role to Jung Keun
Bong at the World Baseball Classic, as the more veteran lefthander was
called on to face Japan on three separate occasions (going 2-1) on his
way to a World Baseball Classic all-tournament team selection.
But Ryu was impressive again at the WBC. He just turned 22, but he
already pitches like a veteran. Ryu has four average to above-average
pitches, includes a 86-93 mph fastball with late life that he can add
and subtract from when needed, a slow curve (75 mph), a tighter slider
and a changeup. Already extensively tested in international play, Ryu's
biggest asset is his feel for pitching. Scouts have said that he would
be a first-round pick if he was in the U.S., and would likely need only
a brief period of acclimation before stepping into a big league
rotation.