The Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday officially recalled Julio Urias from Triple-A Oklahoma City. He starts against the San Francisco Giants in the four-game series finale at AT&T Park. Adam Liberatore was optioned to OKC to make room for Urias on the Dodgers’ active roster.
Speculation over Urias’ expected arrival began to ramp up last week, but it wasn’t until Tuesday that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the 20-year-old would join the club. By inserting Urias into the rotation, Los Angeles is giving their starters with additional rest for this turn.
The young left-hander pitched to a 1.93 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and had 15 strikeouts in 14 innings over three starts for Oklahoma City. Urias threw a season-high 93 pitches across 5.2 innings in his last start.
Whereas the Dodgers last season moved Urias to and from Oklahoma City and in and out of the bullpen, he’s expected to remain in the rotation for the duration of 2017.
The plan is one Urias said he was informed of by the organization, and he feels prepared to make regular starts.
Liberatore returns to Oklahoma City four days after joining the Dodgers. He only faced three batters, allowed one run on one hit and issued one walk in 0.1 innings against the Giants on Monday. With the roster move, Los Angeles is back to carrying seven relievers.
Urias reunites with his former OKC teammate, Cody Bellinger, who was called up by the Dodgers on Tuesday. Bellinger made his MLB debut that evening, and has been in the lineup three consecutive games, including Thursday.
