June 8th, 2016 at 8:45 am 
by Ron Cervenka When you look at the official numbers you will see that there were 40,525 on hand at Dodger Stadium to witness 19-year-old left-handed phenom Julio Urias make his Dodger Stadium debut on Tuesday night. But by this time next week, there will probably be some three million who will claim that they were there.
…but not because of Julio Urias.
It was Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson who made Dodger fans that were not there envious of those who were when the 25-year-old Los Angeles native slugged a dramatic bottom-of-the-ninth-inning, two out walk-off solo home run to give the Dodgers the 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Truth be told, there were maybe 12,000 still in their seats when Thompson hit his 391-foot laser shot that just cleared the wall of the Left Field Pavilion. It was Thompson’s 10th home run of the season – second-most on the team behind Dodgers rookie shortstop Corey Seager’s 14.
The Dodgers now have two walk-off wins this season – both on Trayce Thompson home runs.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Although Urias lasted only four innings due to his high pitch count – 86 pitches / 56 for strikes – the Culiacan, Mexico native allowed only one run on three hits while walking one and striking out seven. You read that correctly, Urias struck out seven of the 16 Rockies batters he faced in only four innings pitched. And though Uris did not go the requisite five innings to earn his first MLB win, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had high praise for his young left-hander and said that he has earned at least one more start.
“For us to get a win on his start day was good for us,” Roberts told reporters after the game. “There is still a lot in there, obviously, and after three starts, for us we’re still excited for his next start.”
Although Urias struck out seven of the 16 batters he faced in his Dodger Stadium debut on Tuesday night – more than any other 19-year-old in LA Dodger history – it took him 86 pitches to do so.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
The Dodgers skipper also told reporters that he had no hesitation whatsoever in pulling Urias before he was eligible for his first career win. As most Dodger fans know, Urias has been on a very strict innings and pitch count limit throughout his brief three-year professional career – a decision made by the Dodgers’ front office and player development staff to protect the young lefty’s throwing arm. However, Roberts was quick to add that even though he likes what he is seeing in the young left-hander, Urias still has some learning to do against major league hitters.
“I think that he’s getting ahead of hitters, but then the ability to get that empty swing … there were some foul balls, some borderline pitches that didn’t go his way, and major league hitters can wait you out and run out counts,” said Roberts. “He’s got to get to the point where he can get ahead of hitters and be able to wipe them out, so that’s the learning curve.”
All four Dodgers runs came by way of the long ball on Tuesday night. And though it will be Thompson’s dramatic walk-off home run that those who were actually at Dodger Stadium will forever remember, it was Justin Turner’s first-inning three run shot that was perhaps even more important; at least for Justin Turner. As every Dodger fan knows, the extremely popular redhead has been mired in a horrible slump all season and are hoping that his three-run blast on Tuesday night is the beginning of the end of Turner’s painful slump.
As for Thompson, who is now the proud owner of both Dodgers walk-off wins this season (both by home runs), he said that he absolutely craves being in situations like this.
“I want to be the guy in that situation,” Thompson said. “I feel like the reward for having success far outweighs the [risk of] failure. I’m not scared to fail. I feel that’s the only way you can have success in this game. I want to be the guy the other team fears in that situation and my team has confidence in me in that situation. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of times when I fail but that’s not going to stop me from wanting to be that guy.”
It appears that Thompson not only craves situations like this, he thrives in them too.
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“I want to be the guy the other team fears in that situation and my team has confidence in me in that situation. I’m sure there are going to be plenty of times when I fail but that’s not going to stop me from wanting to be that guy.”
I wonder if Klay is mentoring him. I hope this Thompson brother becomes to baseball what Klay is to basketball.
I thought Montas was supposed to be the “BIG KAHUNA” in the Peraza trade. Montas has become an after thought! Good job FAZ!!!!
Lastly, I am not waiting until next week. I SAW IT, albeit on TV!
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Well, I saw it, but just about 10 minutes ago. Live Rockies games are blacked out here in Colorado on mlb.com. I already knew about it so wasn’t quite as exciting. Still worth watching.
Same thing tonight, so I reckon I’ll watch Price vs. Bummer.
the whole reason why I NEVER EVER EVER leave a game early.
I’ll never understand that.
Although I had to watch the game on TV all alone in my living room, I’ve become use to that and get as much of a thrill watching Urias perform well and Thompson hit that walk-off home run, as I would have gotten if I’d have watched it from the ballpark stands.
That was the kind of game that makes me wish I could watch on TV. Thanks a lot, Time/Warner.
Try the MLB.TV / UnblockUs thing on your computer. It’s not TV but it’s better than nothing – and it’s Vin. 🙂
I liked Roberts’ comment, “Urias still has some learning to do against major league hitters.” That would seem to indicate that the learning curve that will be expected of Urias will be at the MLB level. 7 K against Rockies hitters including CarGo and Story twice each. He is getting better each outing, gaining more experience and more confidence each time. He will face another good offensive team in the DBacks next week. It will be fun to watch the young lefty go against Goldschmidt.
Trayce is certainly proving that he belongs. Montas will be in LA soon enough. If Montas pitches to his capabilities, that would give FAZ a positive outcome on their much maligned trade with the ChiSox/Reds. I do expect Peraza to be a good player with Cincy, but not so much Schebler or Davis.
Urias was not the only pitcher having good games in the Dodger organization yesterday. Jose De Leon pitched three impressive innings for OKC (no runs, no hits, no walks, 6 K). Carlos Frias followed with 6IP, one run, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K, by far his best outing of the year. Brock Stewart continued his strike machine ways at AA; 7 IP, 1 run. In 56 IP at Tulsa, 1.12 ERA, .83 WHIP, 10 BB, and 62K. With Stewart, De Jong, Barlow and Oaks, Tulsa has a very formidable rotation, and with their 4 best position player prospects, Tulsa will be fun to watch.
Josh Sborz also pitched 5 SO innings at Rancho, and with Holmes having a good year at Rancho Dodger starting pitching should be fine in the coming years…if the ML team can find a way with what they have this year. C. Anderson was assigned to Rancho to learn how to relieve, and has been able to pitch every other day for the last five days, and done very well. LAD will not be able to use all of the pitching, and with Cotton and Lee at AAA, they actually have enough surplus pitching prospects to make something happen at trade deadline. Whether they will or not is hard to say.
Trayce is a keeper. Called it in Spring Training. Absolutely love his “Showtime” bloodlines! Hope he can bring MLB Championship mentality to this Dodgers team.
Thompson’s craving of the pressure situation reminds me very much of Andre Ethier’s early success as “Captain Clutch.”
Thompson looks terrific, but now that he is a regular let’s see how he handles ML pitchers’ adjustments. I am still dubious after watching him play here in Charlotte last season — he is playing much better at the ML level than he did here in Charlotte. Perhaps Roberts and his coaches have made the changes necessary for Thompson to become a legit prospect.