An injury to Alex Wood once again created a window of opportunity for Julio Urias, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ top pitching prospect. With Wood suffering from triceps soreness last week, Urias was called up for his Major League debut.
The circumstances were hardly how you’d draw it up for a 19 year old who is making his first career start. Urias labored through 2.2 innings against the New York Mets at Citi Field, allowing three runs on five hits, walking four and striking out three.
The southpaw was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City the following day in a mild surprise. His time in the Minors didn’t last long as Wood was forced to the 15-day disabled list with what an MRI revealed to be a posterior impingement in his left elbow.
Urias was recalled, but rather than take Wood’s scheduled start on Saturday at home against the Atlanta Braves, he took the mound in the four-game finale at Wrigley Field.
Urias was slated to start for Oklahoma City on Thursday, but the main reason he was pressed into action was to give Kenta Maeda an additional day of rest to overcome the residual swelling in his throwing hand.
The young left-hander had better command in his second career start, but saw his pitches left up in the zone crushed for home runs. Urias allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits, including three home runs, and had four strikeouts to one walk over five innings pitched.
After the outing Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he couldn’t yet commit to keeping Urias in the rotation moving forward, according to Brian Hedger of MLB.com:
“We’re going to talk about that, but I think that we haven’t made that decision yet,” Roberts said. “After this, I’ll get together with the [coaches] and we’ll figure out what is best for us.”
A lack of alternatives may end up working in Urias’ favor. Ross Stripling figures to be a candidate to rejoin the Dodgers, though like Urias, he’s working on an innings limit this season. Carlos Frias has struggled in Triple-A, and Zach Lee has regressed after a strong showing out of the gate.
Should Urias remain with the club, his next outing will be his Dodger Stadium on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies.
