There (probably) isn’t a Dodger fan on the planet who hasn’t, at one point or another, been upset – or perhaps even furious – with some of the decisions made by Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts – collectively, the Dodgers brass. But when it comes to soon-to-be (on August 12) 23-year-old Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias, although frustrating for Dodger fans, it appears that they got this one right.

As every Dodger fan knows, the Culiacan, Mexico native, who was discovered by renowned baseball scout Mike Brito (of Fernando Valenzuela, radar gun and Panama hat fame), was signed by the Dodgers as an amateur free agent on August 12, 2012 – his 16th birthday.

Urias made his professional debut on May 25, 2013 for the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League as the youngest player in the league. In his debut, he struck out six batters over three shutout innings. He would end up making a total of 18 starts with the Loons, finishing the season with a 2-0 record and excellent 2.48 ERA, while recording 67 strikeouts in his 54.1 innings pitched. He spent the entire 2014 season with the Dodgers Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. In his 25 appearances (20 starts) with the Quakes, he went 2-2 with yet another outstanding ERA of 2.36 ERA, while striking out 109 and walking only 37.

Following the 2014 season, Urias was selected to play for the World Team in the 2014 All-Star Futures Game. He was also named as the Dodgers Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and received an invitation to attend major league spring training camp in 2015. However, after pitching in only two games for a total of two innings (and an ERA of 4.50), he was reassigned to minor league camp.

Urias was assigned to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers out of spring training 2015, where he posted a 3-4 record with yet another outstanding ERA of 2.77 in his 13 starts at Tulsa. He was also ranked by MLBpipeline.com as the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball entering the 2015 season and the eighth overall prospect by MLB.com. Baseball America had him as their 10th overall prospect in 2015.

On August 31, 2015, the Dodgers promoted Urias to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers where, for the first time in his brief professional career, he struggled (a clue). He allowed six runs, including a grand slam home run, in just one inning in his one and only start in the Pacific Coast League playoffs.

Urias was again invited to major league spring training in 2016, after which he returned to Triple-A OKC to begin the season. To say that he was phenomenal would be an understatement. In his seven starts at OKC, he went 4-1 with a ridiculous 1.10 ERA. He also had a 27 scoreless-innings streak during May of 2016.

The Dodgers were obviously keep a very close eye on their prize young left-hander throughout his minor league development and on May 27, 2016 – at only 19 years of age – called Urias up to the big league club for his major league debut against the New York Mets. In doing so, he became the youngest starting pitcher to debut in the majors since Félix Hernández did so in 2005 and the youngest Dodgers starting pitcher to debut since Rex Barney in 1943 as an 18-year-old.

It did not go well (another clue).

In his 2.2-inning MLB debut, Urias allowed three runs on five hits while walking four. He did, however, strikeout three, including the very first batter he faced – Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson. He was optioned back to OKC immediately after the game, but not for long. Three days later he returned to the Dodgers when fellow left-handed starter Alex Wood landed on the (then called) disabled list. He made his second major league start on June 2 against the Chicago Cubs at the unfriendly confines of Wrigley Field.

It did not go well (ditto).

In his 5.0 innings pitched, Urias allowed six runs (five earned) on eight hits … including three home runs. He did, however, strike out four, so there’s that. He finally picked up his first major league win in his seventh major league start on June 28, 2016 against the Milwaukee Brewers, at Miller Park, where he allowed two runs on two hits in his 6.0 innings of work. In that game he became the first Dodgers teenager to throw 100 pitches in a game since Joe Moeller did so in 1962. Urias would go on to pitch in 18 games for the Dodgers (15 starts), compiling a 5-2 record with a respectable 3.39 ERA. He finished the season with 84 strikeouts and 31 walks and led the major leagues in pickoffs with six.

Urias pitched two innings of relief in Game-5 of the 2016 National League Division Series, in which he was credited with the win. He was 20 years, 62 days old at the time, thus becoming the youngest Dodger to pitch in the post-season. (He was two weeks younger than Hall of Famer Don Drysdale was in Game-4 of the 1956 World Series). He was also the fourth youngest pitcher in MLB post-season history, behind only Ken Brett (1967 World Series), Bert Blyleven (1970 ALCS) and Don Gullett (1970 NLCS and World Series). Urias became the youngest pitcher ever to start a post-season game when he started game four of the 2016 National League Championship Series, in which he allowed four runs in only 3.2 innings and suffered the loss to the Chicago Cubs.

And then it happened.

The Dodgers elected to keep Urias at extended spring training to begin the 2017 season with the goal of limiting his innings so that he would be able to pitch later in the season and hopefully the postseason. He finally rejoined the Dodgers starting rotation on April 27 and made five starts with a dismal 0-2 record and even more dismal 5.40 ERA (the final clue). As you would expect, he was optioned back to the OKC Dodgers the minors on May 21 where, on June 10, 2017 in a game against the Round Rock Express (Astros), he reportedly tore the anterior capsule in his left shoulder, which ended his 2017 season. I say ‘reportedly’ only because it seems possible that Urias may have been dealing with shoulder issues for quite some time prior to the eventual diagnosis of a torn ACL.

Urias underwent anterior capsule surgery on his left shoulder on June 27, 2017, which sidelined him until he was finally cleared to resume pitching again in July of 2018. He began working his way back to the bigs with stops at the Arizona Rookie League, Rancho Cucamonga and Oklahoma City for a total of 13.1 innings pitched, during which he allowed nine runs on 12 hits, while walking eight and striking out 20.

“Every outing starting with the ones in Rancho Cucamonga I was feeling better every time,” Urias said at the time. “I was getting warmer faster and the next day I was feeling great and the same day I pitched I was feeling good. Every time I was out there, I felt like I was progressing.”

Progressing indeed.

He made three relief appearances in September of 2018 of one, two and one innings respectively without allowing a runs and giving up only one hit, while walking none and striking out seven of the 13 total batters he faced. And although he has been used primarily out of the Dodgers bullpen this season (22 appearances with five starts) and is currently the only left-hander in the Dodgers bullpen (another clue), there is every reason to believe that he will rejoin the Dodgers starting relatively soon.

“Julio Urias looks great, [he] has no fear,” former MLB manager and longtime Dodgers broadcaster Kevin Kennedy posted on Twitter after Urias’ 2.2 innings of work during Wednesday’s rain-delayed 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “He will be a huge factor in the playoffs. He can do every role.

“I liked him getting stretched out a bit,” Kennedy added. “He has a great delivery and pitches with confidence. [He has a] great pick off move and he can hit! He is the total package.”

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