The Los Angeles Dodgers failed to generate much offense and suffered a 7-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds with Julio Urías on the mound for his first start of 2023 Spring Training.
The left-hander allowed a leadoff single to start the game but retired the next three batters. He then threw a perfect second inning and returned to the mound for the third.
Urías’ final line was 2.2 innings pitched, two hits, one run, no walks and four strikeouts. “For the first one, it felt really good,” he said through a translator after the game. “It felt really good out there. It felt like I was attacking the zone and making good pitches.”
Urías is making one more start with the Dodgers before joining Team Mexico for the 2023 World Baseball Classic. “The focus is going to be on that start here and then get ready for the Classic,” Urías said.
He is among the seven members of the Dodgers’ 40-man roster participating in the international tournament, which officially begins on Tuesday, March 7.
While those players need to be further along in a Spring Training progression when compared to their teammates, the 26-year-old doesn’t have a target number of innings he’d like to be built up to.
“I don’t think there’s a focus on getting to a certain inning,” Urías noted. “I was more pitch-conscious, trying to get to 40 pitches. After the second inning, we got to 30, so I had 10 more to play with in the third.”
Julio Urías: Spring Training preparation ‘the same’
Urías has kept the same approach in Spring Training this year despite needing to ramp up faster for the World Baseball Classic. “I think it’s been the same,” he began.
“Obviously, I have to work a little bit to get ready for the Classic, but it’s all been the same. Just a lot of work and emphasis on getting ready for that.”
Urías is scheduled to start for Team Mexico in their WBC opener against Colombia on Saturday, March 11, at Chase Field in Arizona.
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