Dodgers: Is Julio Urias losing ground to Dustin May in rotation battle?

When the Los Angeles Dodgers broke the bank and signed Trevor Bauer this offseason, it oddly felt like many prematurely penciled in Julio Urias as the fifth starter, even though he’s pretty much split his career down the middle as a starter and reliever.

It felt like fans and pundits were assuming Dustin May would inherit a bullpen role since that’s how he was mainly utilized throughout the 2020 postseason, but are we so sure about that?

After all, Urias’ numbers as a reliever are better as a reliever (2.15 ERA vs 3.61 ERA as a starter) while May came up as a starter in the Dodgers system and proved to be shaky in relief/as an “opener” this past October.

And after Urias’ latest spring outing in which he failed to escape the first inning, some fans can’t help but think if this is going to pave the way for May to take the final job in the rotation with the right-hander set to pitch on Monday.

In his three spring starts, Urias has pitched in 6.1 innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks while striking out six.

However, not so fast on the May front. The young flamethrower has pitched in just two innings this spring, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out two, which came in a single outing two weeks ago. Since, he pitched in simulated games and bullpen sessions to fix what was said to be a “mechanical flaw.”

Truth be told, since the Dodgers already have two left-handers in the rotation (Clayton Kershaw and David Price) and Urias has been much more effective in middle relief when coming in for multiple innings. Is transitioning him to a full-time starter role really the best move when May projects as that for the long haul?

We’ll probably get a better idea once May gets a few more outings and whether Urias rebounds the next time he takes the ball. Fans also can’t forget that Jimmy Nelson and Tony Gonsolin figure to be on this pitching staff at the moment, so there are many ways Dave Roberts can deploy his arms to start off 2020.

Who knows, they could both be in hybrid starter/reliever roles once the year begins and the Dodgers might only treat their first four arms as true starters. But it’s worth pondering about the supposed “battle” between Urias and May, which is something many pegged as a must-watch in spring training right after Bauer signed.

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