Earlier this month Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed to the end of April when asked when Julio Urias may join the team. He was left at Camelback Ranch when the Dodgers broke camp, and technically opened the 2017 season with High-A Rancho Cucamonga.
While Urias was included on the Quakes’ Opening Day roster, his 2017 debut came with Triple-A Oklahoma City. The young lefty threw 14 innings over three starts for OKC, allowing just three runs and striking out 15.
Urias stretched out to 93 pitches and 5.2 innings in his most recent outing. That further fueled speculation the 20-year-old was on the doorstep of joining the Dodgers.
According to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, that will take place on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants:
Source: Julio Urias starts for the Dodgers on Thursday.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) April 24, 2017
The Dodgers have not confirmed Urias as the starter in the four-game series finale. Though, manager Dave Roberts did reveal Kenta Maeda was pushed back to Friday.
Urias faced the Giants at AT&T Park in the fourth start of his career last season. He allowed two runs on four hits and had seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings. The outing was Urias’ longest of his career to that point.
Although it may have been stretched more than anticipated last season, the Dodgers had Urias on an innings limit. That’s again in 2017, which prompted the club to stash him in the Minors for essentially the first month of the season.
The Dodgers will need to make a roster move in order to officially recall Urias from Oklahoma City.
