The Los Angeles Dodgers are mired in a five-game losing streak thanks in no small part to their bullpen. Every single one of the losses has been decided in the late innings as the team has struggled to finish games without Kenley Jansen.
Fortunately, the sidelined All-Star closer believes he will return prior to the reported four-to-six week timetable. However, the Dodgers may have another addition to their bullpen already near the end of his rehab in Julio Urias.
The one-time top prospect has not pitched in the Major Leagues in over a year after an anterior capsule tear in his shoulder required surgery. Urias has been slowly rebuilding his strength for most of the 2018 season.
He recently transferred his rehab assignment to High-A Rancho Cucamonga, where Urias allowed one run in 1.2 innings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that Urias would make his next rehab start for Double-A Tulsa. However, it appears the young lefty will instead pitch again for the Quakes, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
Julio Urías will pitch two innings tomorrow in Rancho Cucamonga and face one more batter in the third inning.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 14, 2018
The change of plans could mean Urias is back with the Dodgers even sooner than they had planned. The Dodgers’ ongoing bullpen woes and Ross Stripling’s meeting with a back specialist only add to the need for extra help.
When Jansen does come back, the Dodgers will still need dependable relievers, especially someone who can go multiple innings. Given the oddly specific length of Urias’s next start, the team seems to be preparing him to do just that.
Urias would join other converted starters Kenta Maeda and Stripling in the Dodgers bullpen. Like Maeda and Stripling, Urias has experience pitching in relief in the postseason.
Most notably, he threw two shutout innings in the Dodgers’ win over the Washington Nationals in game five of the 2016 National League Division Series.
