Four weeks from today the Dodgers open the 2019 season in pursuit of their seventh world championship, with left-hander Clayton Kershaw slated to be their Opening Day starting pitcher for a franchise record-setting ninth consecutive time.

BUT, there is a problem.

Kershaw has not yet pitched in a spring training game. In fact, he has not thrown a bullpen session in eight days (and counting). Even merely playing catch has been problematic for the future Hall of Famer, with another such effort scheduled for Thursday morning.

As every Dodger fan knows, it is Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ nature is to be optimistic, abundantly so. But he must be – or at least should be – thinking of contingencies should Kershaw be forced to begin the 2019 campaign on the Injured List instead of on the mound at Dodger Stadium on March 28.

The 2019 Opening Day assignment seems obvious should Kershaw be unable to go; you go with the best you have, Dodgers staff ace heir-apparent Walker Buehler. But who, then, takes the fifth spot in the Dodgers Opening Day starting rotation?

Judging by the (numerous) extremely positive comments following Wednesday’s spring training game against the Oakland Athletics at Hohokam Stadium in nearby Mesa, 22-year-old hard-throwing left-hander Julio Urias is making a very strong case to be Kershaw’s replacement – if needed – on the team’s Opening Day starting rotation.

“Absolutely,” Roberts told reporters following his team’s 5-3 win over the A’s, in which the Culiacan, Mexico native tossed a 1-2-3 inning with one strikeout on five total pitches. “It’s unfair to put limits on him as far as the potential to open the season. Right now, he’s doing everything he possibly can.

“He’s been sharp all spring,” Roberts added. “Fastball 94-97. Loved the at-bat against [A’s designated hitter / third baseman Matt]Chapman right there. He’s focused. He looks great. He’s determined. He’s on that starter rotation and we’ll see him in five days.

“The door’s open for him. The opportunity will present itself if it’s supposed to,” added the Dodgers skipper. “We’ve said from the start of spring, we’re seven or eight starting pitchers deep. Fortunately, we don’t have to make that decision right now.”

Lest we forget, Urias is not a surprise prospect. Since signing with the Dodgers in 2012 as a teenager, Urias dominated hitters who were, on average, seven to eight years older than him while at Great Lakes, Rancho Cucamonga, Tulsa, and Oklahoma City.

In 2016 and still only 19 years old, Urias was the consensus number four prospect in all of Major League Baseball (according to MLB Top 100 and Baseball America Top 100). That season he won five of seven decisions for major league Dodgers, pitching to a 3.38 ERA (3.17 FIP) and averaged almost ten strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

Shoulder surgery in June 2017 effectively delayed the young left-hander’s career by two full years, but by all standards, it appears that Urias is as good – if not better – than ever before.

There is at least one other option for the Dodgers Opening Day starting rotation if Kershaw is unavailable; veteran right-hander Ross Stripling. No doubt Stripling deserves strong consideration, but he is likely more valuable to the team early in the season pitching multiple innings out of the bullpen. Dennis Santana, another highly regarded right-handed pitching prospect, may be another option considering how well he pitched in his first spring training game, when he struck out the side in his one inning of work.

The operative word (or words) here are “left-hander,” which, of course both Kershaw and Urias are. Then again, as we sit here today and even absent Kershaw, the Dodgers still have lefties Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu slated to begin the season in the Opening Day starting rotation, leaving Buehler and Kenta Maeda as their only right-handers, excluding Stripling, that is.

There are still four weeks of spring training games left to be played and it is still a bit premature to write-off Kershaw as the Dodgers Opening Day starter. But if Tuesday’s game – and the associated accolades – are any indication, young Julio Urias is making a very strong case to be part of the Dodgers starting rotation … sooner rather than later.

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