Late Thursday evening, the Dodgers reported that left-handed reliever Tony Cingrani was being shut down completely for what was described as “the same shoulder problem that sidelined him for most of the second half of last season.“ But while this is anything but good news for the the extremely polite 29-year-old Evergreen, Illinois native and 2011 third-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Reds out of Rice University, and with Opening Day now less than two weeks way, it quite possibly is the best news of the spring for the Dodgers – not the loss of Cingrani, but because of who will most likely replace him in the Dodgers bullpen – 22-year-old phenom left-hander Julio Urias.

The Dodgers have made it abundantly clear that they plan to limit the number of innings that Urias will pitch this season as he works his way back from anterior capsule surgery on his (wait for it…) left shoulder, with hopes that he will become a significant factor later in the season as they pursue their seventh consecutive National League West division title and third consecutive NL pennant. And while the Culiacan, Mexico native will absolutely (and eventually) become a full-time starter in their rotation, the Dodgers plan to slow-play him towards that eventual goal. (Note: It was recently reported that the Dodgers plan to limit Urias to 70-100 innings this season).

Although Urias, who has allowed only one run and one hit (a home run) with one walk and six strikeouts in his combined 6.0 innings of work thus far this spring, is the most logical replacement for Cingrani in the Dodgers bullpen, fellow left-hander Caleb Ferguson is also a potential candidate.

Like Urias, the Dodgers plan is to build the 22-year-old Columbus, Ohio native and Dodgers 38th-round draft pick in 2014 out of West Jefferson High School in West Jefferson, Ohio up to be a starter. That being said, Ferguson hasn’t fared nearly as well as Urias in the combined 4.2 innings he has pitched thus far this spring. In the three spring training games in which Ferguson has appeared, he has allowed seven runs on 10 hits, while walking none and striking out seven.

“It just gives other guys opportunities,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts of the Cingrani news. “The main thing with Julio, we want to continue to build him up. With where our starters are built up, namely Clayton [Kershaw] and Walker [Buehler], the length that Julio gives us makes sense. And Caleb, to build him up, which we’re trying to do, to give us more length, makes him a better fit for our roster as well.”

As for Cingrani, Roberts and the Dodgers medical staff knew that something was up with him when pitchers and catchers reported for spring training back on February 13.

“You could see he was favoring that shoulder,” Roberts said. “He’s as tough as they come, but it just wasn’t coming out right. He’s not going to pick up a baseball for a couple of weeks.”

As Roberts noted, staff ace Clayton Kershaw and future staff ace Walker Buehler are still being built up, but neither has appeared in a spring training game yet; this (again) with less than two weeks until Opening Day. And although Roberts (and Kershaw and Buehler) maintain that they will be ready on March 28 when the Dodgers kickoff the 2019 season against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, it is abundantly clear that neither is in a position to go even five innings yet. As such, Urias appears to be the odds-on favorite to get Cingrani’s Opening Day roster spot, where he could – and probably will – come in behind Kershaw (or Buehler), perhaps even on Opening Day.

Stay tuned…

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