When the Los Angeles Dodgers were purchased by the Guggenheim group, it not only came with a sense of relief and enthusiasm, but also a philosophical change within the organization. Yes, there was the significant trade with the Boston Red Sox, but an emphasis was placed on rebuilding the farm system.
Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten stressed the importance of developing prospects to better foster long-term success, and it’s a vision president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has also carried forth.
The philosophy has led to the Dodgers front office receiving plenty of criticism from certain factions in the fan base, as the organization passed on emptying their cupboard in trade(s) for marquee talent.
With the likes of Joc Pederson and Corey Seager cemented in the Majors, the Dodgers’ next wave of prospects is headlined by young hurlers Jose De Leon and Julio Urias.
The duo spent time in big league camp this year, and are currently part of the Triple-A Oklahoma City starting rotation. De Leon and Urias drew succinct praise from a rival evaluator, via Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports:
“(Julio) Urias. Wow. (Jose) DeLeon. Wow.”
Urias is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 0.80 WHIP in six games (five starts) this season. He’s tallied 33 strikeouts compared to six walks over 30 innings pitched, and is holding opponents to a .176 batting average.
Urias currently has a scoreless streak of 18 innings. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recently acknowledged the club has discussed the idea of calling up Urias for his Major League debut in a role out of the bullpen.
As for De Leon, he made his season debut for OKC on May 16 after being slowed by an ankle injury and being stashed in extended Spring Training. He tossed five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and collecting nine strikeouts.
De Leon came away from his first start suffering from arm soreness, which promoted Oklahoma City to push back his next scheduled outing.
Urias earned the ranking of top southpaw prospect by MLB Pipeline, while De Leon was ranked in the top 10 of right-handed pitching prospects. As for the pairing itself, De Leon and Urias were named one of the top 10 duos in the Minor Leagues.
