Dodgers: Julio Urias goes from untouchable prospect to overlooked

There was a time when Julio Urias was one of the best starting pitching prospects in baseball.  Now the Dodgers’ young left-hander is overlooked.

Before Walker Buehler came up to the big leagues and pitched his way into the Dodgers’ ace role, there was another talented prospect who seemed destined for that role.  That would be Julio Urias who was once the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect and many fans imagined a rotation led by Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias.

Then that dream was shattered as Julio Urias injured his shoulder in 2017 while pitching for the OKC Dodgers and underwent anterior capsule surgery.  The recovery process was expected to last 12-14 months and Julio returned in September of 2018 and made three relief appearances before appearing in the postseason as a reliever.

For the 2019 season, the Dodgers used Urias as reliever although he did make eight starts as the injury bug hit LA’s rotation prior to the regular season.  In those eight starts, Julio pitched to an ERA of 3.26 and limited the opposition to a .224 average.  He showed that despite his surgery, he still has the stuff that made him a former top prospect.

Julio averaged 95.1 MPH on his fastball during in 2019 and out of the bullpen he hit 97-98 MPH at times.  Then he has a changeup that is 13 miles per hour slower and a curveball that has a difference of nearly 20 MPH from his heater.  Urias also has a slider that opposing batters hit just .122 against last season.

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This season Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin came up and made their big league debuts and May is currently the Dodgers’ top pitching prospect.  While Urias is no longer considered a prospect, he still has the ability to become an ace type pitcher and reach the high ceiling he was expected to have.

Even though May and Gonsolin took the baseball headlines in 2019, Julio Urias arguably has a higher ceiling than both.  Urias is also younger than Gonsolin and Walker Buehler.  The Dodgers’ off-season plans will likely show how comfortable the team is in handing the keys to young starting pitchers like Julio Urias and Dustin May.

Julio will likely pitch out of the bullpen for parts of the 2020 season as he is expected to be on an innings limit again.  He pitched just 79 2/3 innings in the 2019 regular season so he should have an innings cap around 140-150 innings in 2020.  2021 should be the first season where there is no inning restriction on Julio.

The Dodgers have so many talented young starting pitchers that Julio Urias has almost become overlooked as a potential co-ace for Walker Buehler.  While Urias’ role remains a bit of a question mark for the 2020 season, going forward he gives the Dodgers a potential left-handed co-ace to pair with Walker Buehler.