Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dodgers knew about shoulder tear before he signed in 2012

LOS ANGELES -- Hyun-Jin Ryu said Friday that he has known since his initial physical for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2013 season that he had a torn labrum in his left shoulder. He finally got it taken care of Thursday, when he underwent arthroscopic surgery that will keep him out until at least next spring training.

"Surgery definitely wasn't my intention, but I think this was a good decision to do it now," Ryu said.

Ryu pitched with the injury for two seasons and went 28-15 with a 3.17 ERA. The tear showed up on an MRI before Ryu signed a six-year, $36 million deal in December 2012, but the Dodgers elected to sign him anyway.

Manager Don Mattingly said Friday night that he was aware Ryu had a tear in his labrum these past two seasons but that he was not part of the decision-making process during Ryu's signing. Previous general manager Ned Colletti signed Ryu, and has since been replaced by a tandem of president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Farhan Zaidi. Colletti is now a senior adviser to team president Stan Kasten.

"I've heard subsequently when he's had some shoulder stuff over the last couple years that there was a labral tear," Mattingly said. "He was pretty good for a while there. We really felt like he was on his way back. He threw a bullpen and was throwing 87, 88 mph. We were feeling like this guy's almost ready to go. All of the sudden, the next one, there was no velocity."

Ryu said the latest MRI didn't show any worsening of the tear, but the inflammation had become more persistent.

"There have been times I was able to pitch without pain," Ryu said with his left arm in a sling at a Friday evening news conference at Dodger Stadium.

In May 2014, Ryu went on the 15-day disabled list due to shoulder inflammation, and that flared up again this spring. When he tested his shoulder in a bullpen session the past month, Ryu felt inflammation and had to shut down his throwing program. That's when the possibility of surgery first surfaced. On Tuesday, he made the call to undergo surgery.

The Dodgers have said they are hopeful Ryu will be ready to go by next spring, but the record of pitchers returning from such procedures is checkered. Michael Pineda missed two seasons after the surgery but has been effective for the New York Yankees the past two seasons, with a 10-6 record and 2.46 ERA.