Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias is reportedly getting another chance at the major league level after a disappointing debut.
Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times wrote Tuesday, “Urias is coming back to the major leagues. Alex Wood is going on the disabled list with elbow soreness.”
The 19-year-old Urias started against the New York Mets on Friday and did not make it through the third inning before manager Dave Roberts pulled him. The Dodgers sent him back to Triple-A Oklahoma City after his debut, per Doug Padilla of ESPN.com.
Los Angeles lost Urias’ start, 6-5, as he allowed five hits and three earned runs in 2.2 innings. He also struggled with his command with four walks.
Padilla noted the teenager was the first pitcher to start in the majors before turning 20 since the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez in 2005.
That the Dodgers called Urias back so quickly is notable because Padilla wrote they “made no secret of their desire to keep Urias’ innings to a minimum this season and have even suggested using him out of the bullpen as the season progresses.”
Wood goes to the disabled list after he pitched Monday’s game in Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings of work and has a 3.99 ERA in 10 starts in 2016. McCullough pointed out Wood “reported some triceps soreness today.”
With Wood out, Rotoworld noted Urias will take the vacated spot in the rotation and make his next start against the Atlanta Braves.
The young southpaw couldn’t ask for a better matchup considering the Braves were tied with the Minnesota Twins entering play Tuesday with the worst record in the major leagues at 15-35. Atlanta has also struggled at the dish and is dead last in baseball with 161 runs scored, which is a symptom of its overall offensive issues:
Urias is surrounded by enormous expectations. MLB.com ranked him as the No. 2 prospect in the league entering the 2016 season and pointed to his “plus or better stuff across the board.”
He is consistently in the mid-90s with his fastball and can touch 97. He also has a “big-breaking curveball and fading changeup” to work with, per MLB.com. However, Urias has never appeared in more than 87.2 innings in a single season and missed two months in 2015 to have a benign tumor taken out of his left eye.
It is easy to envision Urias and Clayton Kershaw as a dominant one-two punch for the Dodgers down the line, but he first needs to make strides and gather experience during his second chance in the big leagues.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments