On Monday the Los Angeles Dodgers reportedly renewed the contracts of Joc Pederson and Corey Seager, with both receiving a raise for the 2017 season. Dating back multiple years, Pederson and Seager headlined the organization’s current wave of prospects.
Once part of that was Julio Urias, though he’s now graduated from prospect to knocking on the doorstep of MLB stardom. Urias figures to factor into the Dodgers’ success this season but the club is still determining how to best manage his workload.
Prior to reaching that point, the Dodgers also renewed Urias’ contract, according to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
Two other rookies had their contracts renewed this week: shortstop Corey Seager for $575,000 and pitcher Julio Urias for $540,000 if he’s in the majors
Urias earned $507,500 last season. He made his MLB debut in May and proceeded to appear in 18 games for the Dodgers, making 15 starts. Including the postseason and time spent with Triple-A Oklahoma City, Urias threw a career-high 127.2 innings pitched.
His previous career high was 87.2 innings, set in 2014 with High-A Rancho Cucamonga. While it’s unclear where Urias may begin the season, moving the left-hander to the bullpen as a means of capping his innings is an unlikely scenario.
Urias has pitched in three Cactus League games this year, two of which were starts, and is 1-0 with a 1.83 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and seven strikeouts in five innings.
