The Los Angeles Dodgers farm system has been raved about for the past two years, which is a byproduct of the focus the organization placed on replenishing their crop of prospects. Some of that work has paid off recently, with the likes of Joc Pederson and Corey Seager playing key roles in the Majors.
That’s left Julio Urias as the next prospect-in-waiting. The 19-year-old left-hander has been lights out this season at Triple-A Oklahoma City. Coupled with some of the struggles in the Dodgers’ bullpen, the calls for Urias to make his Major League debut have grown by the day.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed earlier this month that conversations centered around calling Urias up were held, but momentum for that to take place has since slowed considerably.
Conventional wisdom holds Urias will be promoted from Triple-A this season, which Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi acknowledged but didn’t get into specifics, via Bill Plunkett of the OC Register:
“He’ll be in a Dodgers uniform at some point,” Zaidi said at Petco Park this weekend.
Pressed on whether that point might be fast approaching, Zaidi smiled and said, “I’m going to leave it at – ‘some point.’”
Urias entered his start on Thursday afternoon 4-1 with a 1.10 ERA and 0.78 WHIP in eight games (seven starts) this season. Opponents are batting .176/.228/.257, and Urias has 44 strikeouts to eight eight walks over 41 innings pitched.
His ERA and WHIP leads the Pacific Coast League, and Urias owns an impressive of streak of 27 scoreless innings. While his arrival in the Dodgers’ bullpen is highly anticipated, it may not come before Frankie Montas, who is currently on a rehab assignment.
