Los Angeles Dodgers: Three surprises in store for the 2019 season
By Jason Reed
2. Julio Urias will be the clear-cut third-best arm heading into October
Julio Urias, kind of like Corey Seager, has fallen out of the spotlight on the Los Angeles Dodgers. As Urias progressed through the ranks, he was one of the most anticipated prospects in all of baseball and was touted as the arm that would take over the rotation from Clayton Kershaw when he left.
Heck, Urias made his MLB debut at 19 and pitched in the NLDS and NLCS. I like to consider myself as fairly successful for 20 and here I am typing about what Urias did being an entire year younger than I am right now.
Urias’ shoulder surgery in 2017 really derailed him and it was not until the end of 2018 that we saw him in a very reduced role. However, he was still selected for the postseason roster and became a nice go-to arm against southpaws, especially in the NLCS.
Urias will be on an innings cap in 2019 and it will be interesting to see if the team keeps him in the bullpen or decides to move him to the starting rotation. Either way, there probably will be a few precautionary 10-day DL stints in there, just to make sure he stays fresh.
However, as the calendar turns to fall it will be Urias who is the clear-cut third-best arm on the team behind Kershaw and Walker Buehler. He won’t just be the third-best arm but will be on the same level as the two, much like how Buehler surprisingly became the Dodgers best pitcher at the end of last season.
Urias still honestly has Cy Young potential and is still only 22 years old, two years younger than Walker Buehler. He will begin to show that potential at the end of the season with some dominating performances.