In 2005, the year he turned 18, he led Dongsan High School to the Blue Dragon Flag title as its ace, and that year Hanwha took him in the second-stage draft.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 19, on April 12, he won his debut against LG with 7⅓ scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts, and became known. That year he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts for a pitching Triple Crown and was named both Rookie of the Year and MVP.
In 2007, he led in strikeouts again. In August 2008, he started the gold-medal game against Cuba at the Beijing Olympics, won the gold and received a military service benefit. In 2009, he pitched at the World Baseball Classic as Korea finished runner-up.
In May 2010, he struck out 17 in a game, a regulation-game record, and set an unofficial world record of 23 straight quality starts from the start of the season through August. In November he added a gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games.
In December 2012, he signed with the L.A. Dodgers for six years and $36 million through the posting system and went straight to the majors. He made his MLB debut on April 3, 2013 and won his first game in his second start, on April 8. He threw a rookie-high 192 innings to help the Dodgers win their division and became the first Korean player to win a postseason game. At the end of the year he finished fourth in National League Rookie of the Year voting.
In May 2015, he had left shoulder labrum surgery. On July 8, 2016, he returned to an MLB mound after 640 days. In January 2018, he married the announcer Bae Ji-hyun at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.
The year he turned 32, in July, he started the MLB All-Star Game for the National League, the first Korean pitcher to start one. In September he became the first Asian pitcher to lead MLB in ERA, with a 2.32 mark, and finished second in Cy Young voting. At the end of that year he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for four years and $80 million. In 2020, he went 5-2 with a 2.69 ERA, took Toronto to its first postseason in four years and became the first Asian pitcher to win the Warren Spahn Award.
In June 2022, he had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow, 18 years after the one he had in high school in 2004. He finished his last season in Toronto with his Oct. 1, 2023 start against Tampa Bay. In February 2024, he returned to the Hanwha Eagles after 12 years, signing for eight years and 17 billion won. He started the March opener and reached 100 career KBO wins on April 30.
In 2025, he went 9-7, and Hanwha reached the Korean Series for the first time in 19 years. In March 2026, he retired from the national team after the WBC quarterfinal against the Dominican Republic, his first national team appearance in 16 years. On May 24, he reached 200 career wins combined in the KBO and MLB.
Hyun-jin Ryu (born Mar 25, 1987) became known on Apr 12, 2006, the year he turned 19, when he won his KBO debut with 10 strikeouts and no runs. That year he took the pitching Triple Crown and was named Rookie of the Year and MVP together, and in 2019, the year he turned 32, he became the first Asian pitcher to lead MLB in ERA.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.