Dodgers: Don’t let grand slams distract you from Julio Urias’ brilliance

You might’ve heard by now, but the Los Angeles Dodgers planned a pretty powerful response to their struggles in Milwaukee on Sunday.

18 hits, 16 runs, and one spoiled MLB debut later, and the Dodgers had run away with a victory that might have dismissed their April struggles once and for all.

Don’t let that offensive explosion distract you from what the man on the mound did, though.

Just a few weeks after being elevated from the closer’s role in the playoff bullpen to the No. 4 spot in the rotation, Julio Urias has done everything in his power to prove that his pedigree wasn’t a mirage.

In Sunday’s game, Urias’ brilliance was magnified partially because of how bleak things had gotten in recent weeks, as the team dropped 10 of 13 games entering this series-saver.

Urias delivered, as he usually does, dismissing the Brewers like taking two Advil to a hangover.

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Julio Urias has been unreasonably brilliant.

The 24-year-old Urias has played the role of stopper whenever called upon this year, and in the process has racked up 42 whiffs in 37.2 innings, a perfect 4-0 record (do people still like W-L records?), and a 2.87 ERA that almost perfectly matches his 2.82 FIP.

What does that mean? It means the man handles his business all by his lonesome. No fielders necessary. He rarely gives up hits, he typically strikes out a pile of batters per game, and when handed an early lead the way he was on Sunday, he can chew up innings and spit them out with remarkable efficiency.

In Urias’ six starts this season, he’s completed seven innings in half of them, an impressive showing from someone who was relegated to a bullpen role in 2020.

Were AJ Pollock’s vintage smack and Matt Beaty’s extra spice important on Sunday? Of course! Ending a series in which the bats disappeared with an offensive explosion will pay dividends.

But don’t forget about the man on the mound in the midst of a spotless 2021 who made it all stand up.

Of the four contenders for the final two rotation spots entering camp, he’s inexplicably the only one still standing. Never forget how rare and exceptional his dominance really is in such an unpredictable game.

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