Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pointed to late April as a point in the season where it made sense for the club to insert Julio Urias into the starting rotation. Over recent days, the specific date appeared to be Thursday.
Although Roberts had already revealed Kenta Maeda was having his scheduled start pushed back one day — to Friday — it wasn’t until Tuesday that the second-year manager officially named Urias the starter for the series finale against the San Francisco Giants.
With the 20-year-old on the verge of making his first Major League start of the year, Roberts said Urias will remain in the Dodgers rotation for the season, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“That was why we did what we did,” Roberts said. “To kind of shorten the season, condense it, slow play it – whatever you want to say – to now get Julio here and he can be with us for the duration, yes.”
Urias reported to Spring Training seemingly in the conversation for one of the two available spots in the rotation. However, the Dodgers kept a tight leash on his workload throughout camp, and it quickly became apparent Urias would not be with the team on Opening Day.
Urias threw 14 innings over three starts with Oklahoma City this season. He stretched out to 5.2 innings and 93 pitches, and had a season-high six strikeouts in his last outing. The Dodgers’ plan has been to conserve Urias’ innings so that he’s available down the stretch of the year and for potential playoff games.
Last season, while bouncing in and out of the rotation, and pitching for Oklahoma City and the Dodgers, Urias threw a career-high 127.2 innings. By inserting him into the rotation without replacing a pitcher, other starters will get an extra day of rest for their next turn.
