Los Angeles Dodgers’ top pitching prospect Julio Urias took the mound on Wednesday morning against the New Orleans Zyphers, the Miami Marlins’ affiliate. Urias was following Jose De Leon, who had nine strikeouts over five scoreless innings in his 2016 debut.
The duo was recently ranked amongst the top 10 in the Minors, and Urias certainly did his part to remind just how talented he is. The young lefty entered his fifth game (fourth start) this season with a 2-1 record, 2.50 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 23 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.
Working on an innings limit this season, Urias had yet to throw more than five frames in any of his appearances. That changed Wednesday as he spun six no-hit innings on 77 pitches, 52 of which were strikes.
Urias struck out five of the first nine batters faced, and only lost a perfect game because of an error on shortstop Zach Walters in the fifth inning. Urias later picked off the runner to ensure he faced the minimum on the day.
While most may shy away from acknowledging their no-hit work, Urias was aware of the situation, according to Danny Wild of MiLB.com:
“A lot of pitchers say they don’t notice the scoreboard, but I was looking at it,” he said. “I knew from the beginning that I had a no-hitter, and when I came out, I didn’t feel nervous. I was comfortable. I’m thankful that we won.”
The 19-year-old lefty now has 29 strikeouts to just three walks in 25 innings. Urias also sports a 1.88 ERA and 0.71 WHIP. His six innings of work matched his career high, and he’s now surpassed five innings pitched 10 times in 66 career games.
Urias is expected to surpass 100 innings of work during a professional season for the first time in his young career. Including rehab starts last season, he threw 80.1 innings over 18 games. Urias’ career high is 87.2 innings of work in 25 games (20 starts) in 2014. He’s join the Dodgers at some point this season, perhaps in a role out of the bullpen.