Even though Monday’s spring training contest between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium was not televised, it was broadcast live on the Dodgers radio station (AM 570 LA Sports) and simulcast on MLB.com. Fans could also follow along via MLB Gameday. And while those of us not at the ballpark were at the mercy of new Dodgers broadcaster Tim Neverett and former Dodger and veteran broadcaster Rick Monday to give us a visual of what was going on, it was easy to tell that 22-year-old Dodgers phenom Julio Urias was on his game.

…and then some.

Several times during his two innings of work, Neverett and Monday pointed out that Urias was not only fully recovered form his June 27, 2017 left shoulder surgery, but was nearing the century mark with his fastball and was completely fooling Giants batters with his off-speed pitches. Urias did, however, give up a solo home run to Giants All-Star third baseman Evan Longoria in his second and final inning of work.

“It felt really good, especially for it being the first time I throw two innings,” Urias said of his second start of the spring through an interpreter. “The breaking pitches are doing well, all the pitches are doing well and it felt good.”

What makes Urias’ second consecutive dominating start of the spring all the more important is that earlier Monday morning, Dodgers manager Dave Robert told reporters that it was fair to say that his ace, Clayton Kershaw, probably would not be ready to make what would have been his franchise record-setting ninth consecutive Opening Day start on March 28 against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

“That’s fair,” Roberts said. “I didn’t see him throw [on Monday morning], but I talked to him when he came off the field and he was pretty excited. He was a little bit more than encouraged. He was excited, so that was a good thing for us.

“The number one thing is for Clayton to be ready and confident mentally and physically,” Roberts added. “There’s just way too much importance on the Opening Day roster.”

Make no mistake about it, Urias is very well away that he may be called upon to replace Kershaw in the Dodgers starting rotation, at least to begin the season. Asked what he is doing to prepare himself should that indeed be the case, the young Culiacan, Mexico native was very specific in his answer.

“It has to be a little bit of everything, especially if you’re being considered for an opening role,” Urias answered. “You have to be able to go three, four innings and do all those things. I think more importantly is just staying healthy and feeling good.

“Just continue to work hard and try to get to that point. Every time you go out there, you try to show them that you’re healthy,” he added.

Should Kershaw indeed not be ready on Opening Day, it most likely will not be Urias who replaces him to open the season. However, should Kershaw begin the 2019 campaign on the Injured List, Urias would be the odds-on favorite to replace him on the Dodgers Opening Day 25-man roster and in the Dodgers five-man rotation. And even though Roberts has repeatedly declined to name who Kershaw’s replacement would be if he is unable to go on Opening Day, it will, in all probability, be 24-year-old right-hander Walker Buehler.

Although there may be some old-school baseball purists who believe that Kershaw’s replacement should be one of the Dodgers veteran pitchers instead of Buehler, the bottom line is that you go with the guy who gives your team the best chance to win – period.

Should this be the case and should Urias be added to the Dodgers Opening Day starting rotation, exactly where he slots into the five-man rotation remains to be seen. Keep in mind that Roberts and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman are (very) big into pitcher vs. batter match-ups and Urias, like Kershaw, will give the Dodgers three left-handers (Urias, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu) and two right-handers (Buehler and Kenta Maeda).

There is a very good chance that Roberts will announce his replacement Opening Day starter later this week or early next week at the very latest; this to allow Roberts to begin lining up his five-man starting rotation for the remainder of the spring so that his Opening Day starter would be on normal rest when March 28 rolls around.

Stay tuned…

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