Dodgers Rumors: Julio Urias won’t be on Active Roster – What it Means
By Jason Reed
The latest Dodgers Rumors are swirling as young phenom Julio Urias will not start the season on the Dodgers active roster.
Leading the way for the Dodgers‘ promising farm system and its future is Julio Urias. However, according to these Dodgers rumors, us fans are going to have to wait to see him back in the majors.
Julio Urias is the future of the Dodgers pitching staff. As much as we all love Clayton Kershaw, the fact is that after 2018 Kershaw can opt out of his contract, potentially leaving the Dodgers without an ace. Although chances seem to be that he may be a lifetime Dodger, Julio Urias will be the guy to step into those huge shoes when the time is right.
Having been signed when he was only 16 years old, Urias has held much promise through his rise in the Dodgers ranks. Dodger fans got a glimpse of this talent in 2016 when Urias was rushed to the big leagues in result of multiple Dodgers injuries.
Urias stat-line may not be extremely eye-popping on the surface, but Urias thrived in the MLB once his feet got wet. Urias posted a 1.96 ERA during the months of August, September, and October; showing that once he got accustomed to big league talent his talent only thrived further.
Despite this promise and being on the big league roster for about half the season last year, Dave Roberts confirmed that Julio Urias will indeed start the season in the minor leagues. According to the Orange County Register, Roberts said the following:
"“He’s not going to open with us. He’s not going to be on the opening day roster. He’s going to come to Los Angeles with us and just kind of be in that environment (for the Freeway Series) and throw a ‘pen or whatever Honey (Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt) has for him. And at that point in time, we’ve already had internal discussions about his program going forward.”"
The Dodgers are obviously looking to limit Urias’ innings much like the Nationals did with Stephen Strasburg back in 2012. In that instance, the Nationals shut Strasburg down at just under 160 innings pitched.
Having thrown just under 130 innings last season between the playoffs and both levels of the regular season, it is safe to assume that Urias likely has a slightly larger cap at around 180 innings pitched. This of course, if going to be split between the major and minor leagues.
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Dodger fans may be disappointed now to miss out on Urias in the beginning of the season, but it is the smartest move the Dodgers have made with the young leftie. Instead of starting Urias in the majors now and losing him come September, the Dodgers are slowly easing him into the workload he will have during the closing months of the season.
The Dodgers have learned from the Nationals situation with Stephen Strasburg. Urias will likely start around six games come August and September, then likely moving to the bullpen for the playoffs. Of course, things are always subject to change, but if the Dodgers have four solid pitchers by the time October rolls around they won’t need Urias to start.
Then, Urias can come out of the bullpen like he did in the NLDS against the Nationals, and serve as a great long relief arm. Throwing 3-5 innings won’t kill Urias’ arm, and will push him to likely serve as the number two option behind Kershaw next season.
I know Dodger fans, it is a little disheartening seeing Urias start somewhere other than Los Angeles in 2017. Being a huge Dodgers and Julio Urias fan myself, these kind of Dodgers rumors are not my favorite. However, with hindsight in mind, this move will be for the best.