June 3rd, 2016 at 2:37 pm 
by Ron Cervenka It’s one of those things that really irks me … well two things actually. Within seconds of suffering his first major league loss on Thursday afternoon, Twitter lit up with armchair general managers proclaiming that the Dodgers front office was: 1) Irresponsible for calling up 19-year-old left-hander Julio Urias when he clearly isn’t MLB-ready, or worse; 2) That the Dodgers front office was irresponsible and even negligent for having Urias make his first two major league starts on the road against two of the best teams in the game right now.
“Fertilizer!” as Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully would say to this nonsense.
To the first point raised by those claiming that the hard-throwing Culiacan, Mexico native isn’t old enough or MLB-ready, Urias has nothing left to prove at the minor league level … absolutely nothing.
As to the second point about Urias making his MLB debut and subsequent start on the road against two very good teams, this is by far one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. The big leagues are the big leagues, you either make it or you don’t – period. You don’t get to The Show by being babied along or eased into baseball’s highest level, you get there by being among the best 750 baseball players in the world. You don’t measure a major leaguer by how he performs against the weaker teams in the league, you measure him by how he performs against every team in the league – good and bad.
No one will argue that Urias had a tough assignment when he made his MLB debut against the Mets at Citi Field, but the Dodgers complete lack of offense made it even tougher on the young lefty.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Are Citi Field in New York and Wrigley Field in Chicago harsh environments for a rookie making his MLB debut and second appearance respectively? You bet they are. But they’re just as harsh for veteran players too – just ask Chase Utley. In fact, every one of the 29 major league ballparks are harsh for visiting teams – that’s the nature of the beast and what the game of baseball is all about.
The struggles that Urias has faced in his first two major league appearances has absolutely nothing to do with his age or his maturity (which has been called exceptional by many), or that he was thrown into the fire on the road against two of the best teams instead of being eased into the majors at cozy Dodger Stadium. And though it goes without saying that Urias had butterflies in his stomach in his MLB debut in New York, it’s the Dodgers impotent offense that has more to do with Urias’ early struggles than anything else.
Check this out. In his combined 7.2 innings pitched (2.2 against the Mets on May 27 and 5.0 against the Cubs on June 2), the Dodgers have given Urias a grand total of two runs of support on (wait for it…) exactly two hits; that’s it! – two measly hits. And though one was a Trayce Thompson solo home run, really? Two runs and two hits? Not exactly a recipe for success, is it?
It’s easy to point the finger at Urias for allowing three earned runs on five hits against the Mets in his major league debut and five earned runs on eight hits (including three home runs) on Thursday afternoon, but the simple truth is that he nor any of the other Dodgers starters are not to blame for the Dodgers being 5.5 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
It’s their season-long offensive slump that is to blame.
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AMEN Ron!
Agreed, the armchair GM’s get old. ANY competitor would welcome the opportunity to quiet a hostile crowd (See Chase Utley). I am now looking forward to Urias’ third start, I bet it’s going to be a charm!
Urias is right where he belongs. Some of those armchair GMs say he was too young and his confidence is now blown. I wrote the following to some of those.
“I do not believe it is lack of confidence that troubles the 19 year old, but rather frustration. I know many on this site watch a lot of minor league baseball. I have seen nearly 1,000 minor league games since 1997 (I love minor league baseball). As much as the umpiring is regressing at the ML level it is worse at the minor league level. Pitches Urias was getting called strikes at AAA are not being called at ML (and probably should not be). I did not see him pitch against the Cubs, but I did see him pitch against NY, and he was just missing, and he looked frustrated not getting the calls. He is 19. 19 year olds get frustrated because there hair will not stay the way they want. He was probably pitching to his spots, but was not getting the calls he used to get. So he needed to get to the plate more, and since he was no longer hitting his spots, he was getting too much of the plate. One other big difference between ML and minors is that ML hitters do not miss mistakes nearly as often as minor league hitters, and they did not miss Julio’s. So how does he learn to master new spots at the ML level? He needs to pitch there. He already knows how to pitch at AAA, so why go back down if there is a need at the ML level? So those of you who say he lacks experience, I agree. But the experience he needs is at the ML level not AAA. He should stay, and I hope he does.”
Bottom line, Urias has earned his spot at the ML level. Part of learning to succeed is learning how to deal with failure. Methinks that Urias has the ability to let the bad go, and get ready for the next game.
“Urias is right where he belongs”, yes, of course he is. What more did he have to prove at AAA. NOTHING!
Your comment about frustration and 19 year olds made me laugh. I have a 19 year old son. Great kid, but, he sometimes thinks the world revolves around him, and that he can do no wrong (must have got it from his Mom). He can get “frustrated” when OTHER people’s “mistakes” effect him, so maybe you are on to something. I have known other, nameless, 19 year olds that suffered from the same trait, happily, they turned out OK. Urias will quickly figure it out.
I agree, I don’t think he should be sent back down and sooner or later he’ll start pitching in MLB the way he was pitching in the minor leagues.
I’m guessing “sooner”.
Re: second point: The complainers talk like it was a carefully planned to throw him in tough spots. Fact is, as anybody who was paying attention knows, both starts were because of immediate need.
Since he’s still with the team I’m assuming he’s in the rotation. That will make his next start at Dodger Stadium, facing off against the Rocky Horror Pitcher Show. That should make them happy.