The long-awaited Major League debut for Los Angeles Dodgers top pitching prospect Julio Urias is expected to take place on Friday against the New York Mets at Citi Field, the club announced Thursday morning.
Alex Wood, suffering from left triceps soreness, had his scheduled start pushed back to Monday against the Chicago Cubs. Wood was scratched from a Spring Training start this year due to left forearm tightness, an issue he said was not serious.
The Dodgers will need to make corresponding moves to clear room for Urias on on the 40-man and active roster. The 19-year-old left-hander was originally slated to start Thursday night for Triple-A Oklahoma City in Fresno.
He owns a streak of 27 consecutive scoreless innings, and leads the Pacific Coast League with a 1.10 ERA and 0.78 WHIP. At 19 years, 289 days old on Friday, Urias will become the youngest Dodgers starting pitcher since Dick Calmus in August 1963, and youngest pitcher in franchise history since Fernando Valenzuela pitched out of the bullpen in 1980.
What’s more, Urias will be the youngest to pitch in the Majors since Felix Hernandez made his MLB debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2005. Urias’ Major League debut comes in the same stadium Zach Lee made his as a spot starter last season.
With the Dodgers’ closely monitoring Urias’ workload this season, the prized left-hander has yet to thrown more than six innings in a start. He threw a season-high 82 pitches over six frames on May 14.
Urias will be followed in the series against the Mets by Kenta Maeda (Saturday) and Clayton Kershaw (Sunday).
