One of the first things that a coach, manager or general manager will tell you about a potentially great young prospect is that at some point along the way, they will fail. They will be sailing along racking up numbers and then all of a sudden they hit a bump in the road. This is to be expected and, quite frankly, it’s no big deal and happens to every minor leaguer.

What is a big deal is how these young prospects handle their failures and how they rebound from them. If they are unable to handle them, their baseball days are numbered. If they bear down and work through their struggles and begin to succeed again, they are back on track towards the big leagues.

Up until Monday night, things were rolling along great for 17-year-old Mexican phenom pitcher Julio Urias. The young left-hander pitched exceptionally well in the Midwest League for the Low Single-A Great Lakes Loons in 2013 (as a 16-year-old), he was brilliant in his one big league start for the Dodgers during spring training, and he did exceptionally well in his first appearance with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on April 4.

Seventeen-year-old phenom Julio Urias has been rolling along smoothly thus far in his young career – until he hit his first bump in the road on Monday night. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Urias did not actually start the game on April 4 against the San Jose Giants (Giants), he entered the game in the 6th inning in relief of Matt Shelton, who relieved rehabbing Dodgers right-hander Josh Beckett. In the game, Urias pitched four scoreless innings allowing no runs on one hit with four walks and five strikeouts. So far – so good.

Urias’s next appearance was on April 9 against the defending Cal League Champion Inland Empire 66ers (Angels). He actually started that game but was on a pitch count and lasted only 1.2 innings. He allowed one run on one hit, walked two and struck out two. Again, so far – so good. (Urias was one of the lucky ones – the game went 14 innings and lasted over five hours, ending in an eventual 4-3 loss).

On Monday night Urias made his third appearance (second start) against the Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres). On hand at Rancho Cucamonga was Dodgers assistant minor league pitching coordinator Richard Knapp. When I asked Knapp if Urias was going to be on a pitch count, he said “Yes” but wouldn’t come right out and say how many. He then smiled and pointed at the camera around my neck and said “Do you have 100 pictures left in your camera?” (I love getting little clues like that).

Unfortunately, I did not need 100 pictures. In fact, I only needed 85. Urias was roughed up for two runs on three consecutive hits to the first three batters he faced in the top of the first inning. Although the Culiacán, Mexico native settled down over the next three innings, his night was done with one out in the fifth inning when he gave up a two run home run to 66ers right fielder Hunter Renfroe, who pretty much single-handedly beat the Quakes. Renfroe was 2 for 4 on the night, knocking in four of the five Storm runs with a two-run double in the first and his two-run blast in the fifth. Urias walked the very next batter (who would eventually come around to score) and Quakes manager P.J. Forbes pulled his young left-hander.

Urias finished the night allowing five runs on six hits, walking two and striking out six in his 4.1 innings of work, raising his ERA to 5.40 in 10 total innings pitched.

To his credit, Urias once again showed tremendous poise and confidence on the mound making it almost impossible to believe that he is only 17 years old. At one point after his shaky start on Monday night, he retired eight batters in a row. Additionally, according the the radar gun at LoanMart Field, the young left-hander hit 94 MPH with his fastball several times and threw a devastating 83 MPH change-up that badly fooled several Storm batters en route to his six strikeouts.

Urias actually pitched better than his numbers indicated on Monday night. In addition to his six strikeouts, he hit 94 on the radar gun several times. Of course the Quakes complete lack of offense didn’t help him any either. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Urias is undoubtedly frustrated with the outcome of Monday night’s 5-0 loss, there is absolutely no doubt that he will rebound from this outing and quickly get back on track for his next start scheduled for April 19.