Dodgers: The Bullpen Gets an Electric Addition in Julio Urias

The Dodgers’ bullpen has been the biggest weakness of the 2019 team. The pen will be bolstered by Julio Urias shifting into a relief role.

The Dodgers are activating Hyun-Jin Ryu from the disabled list on Saturday to start against the Milwaukee Brewers. The move will do two things; push Clayton Kershaw back to Sunday and send Julio Urias back to the bullpen for the foreseeable future. Unless there are more starting pitcher injuries which is always a possibility.

Julio Urias made his last start for what will likely be a couple of months last night and he made quite the statement by not allowing a single hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Julio’s final line was six strong innings while allowing just one hit, two walks, and nine strikeouts. For the first time this season, he had his slider working especially to left-handed batters and it helped record several key outs.

With the Dodgers’ full projected opening day rotation set to be complete when Rich Hill returns next week, Julio Urias has been pushed to the bullpen. A big part of that switch is that this is Julio’s first full season coming off anterior capsule shoulder surgery, and the Dodgers are going to limit him somewhere between 120-150 innings. In order for Urias to be available in the rotation for the stretch run and the postseason, he will need to spend some time in a relief role.

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The Dodger pen has been a work in progress although Scott Alexander, Caleb Ferguson, and Dylan Floro have been the club’s top relievers. Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen have also pitched well giving the team a handful of dependable relievers. The addition of Julio Urias will only help bolster a bullpen that is waiting for Joe Kelly to put it over the top as an elite bullpen.

The Dodgers already have two reliable lefties in Ferguson and Alexander, so Julio Urias will present Dave Roberts with some flexibility. If a game goes extra innings or the bullpen needs a break, Julio can come in and give the Dodgers 2-3 innings of work. The other option is that Roberts can use Urias in high leverage situations, much like 2018 when he used him to get Christian Yelich out in a key moment of game seven of the NLCS.

Next. Rich Hill looks more than ready in his rehab start. dark

Much like his bullpen mate Caleb Ferguson, Julio has electric stuff and will be relied upon to get left and right-handed batters out. With a fastball in the upper 90’s, an emerging changeup, and two solid offerings in his curveball and slider, there isn’t a batter in baseball that will be glad to see Urias run out of the bullpen gates. With the rotation nearing full strength, we are about to see the bullpen reach it’s peak as well.