Looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s 8-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals — their first of Cactus League play — the Los Angeles Dodgers again are on the road for their lone Spring Training matchup against the Oakland Athletics at Hohokam Stadium.
Julio Urias makes his 2019 debut in what’s expected to be a short outing. “Julio is going to throw one inning and then potentially depending on how that goes, go in the ‘pen and finish up a second up,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
After thriving as a reliever for the Dodgers at the end of 2018, Urias will reprise his usual role as a starting pitcher this season. He has already been pegged with an innings limit and the club will be mindful of such in Spring Training.
“He came into camp in great shape, to his credit,” Roberts added. “Just the ball coming out of his hand, the pitch mix. Obviously, Julio has great feel so to get him on the field against another opponent, we’re pretty excited.”
The Athletics send Daniel Mengden to the mound for his second start of the spring. He was less than solid in his debut last Friday, allowing two hits, two runs and a walk in one inning of work against the Seattle Mariners.
The right-hander compiled a 7-6 record, 4.05 ERA, 4.69 FIP and 1.12 WHIP with 72 strikeouts against 26 walks over 115.2 innings pitched during the 2018 season (22 games, 17 starts).
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Alex Verdugo
RF: Ezequiel Carrera
2B: Kiké Hernandez
LF: Joc Pederson
C: Austin Barnes
1B: Matt Beaty
DH: Josh Thole
3B: Cody Asche
SS: Omar Estevez
Athletics lineup:
LF: Robbie Grossman
SS: Marcus Semien
DH: Matt Chapman
1B: Matt Olson
RF: Stephen Piscotty
CF: Mark Canha
2B: Jurickson Profar
3B: Chad Pinder
C: Chris Herrmann
