Los Angeles Dodgers: The biggest mistakes to avoid in 2019
By Jason Reed
2. Setting a hard cap on Julio Urias’ innings
Julio Urias has looked absolutely phenomenal this spring and for the time being, has put to bed any concerns of how he would recover from the anterior capsule surgery that he had on his throwing shoulder in 2017.
Urias missed a year with the injury and did not come back until late 2018, where he had a very minor role (although he became a southpaw specialist out of the bullpen in the postseason).
Because of his injury and the emergence of Walker Buehler, some fans have forgotten how truly special Urias is and how he has the potential to be Cy Young candidate in the future. Coming into the league Urias was touted even higher than Buehler was, which is saying something.
The Dodgers obviously want to protect Urias, who is coming off that scary surgery and is still only 22 years old. There are plenty of elite and dominant years in Urias’ future.
Because of this Urias was set to be in the bullpen to start the year but injuries to both Rich Hill and Clayton Kershaw have forced Urias back into the starting rotation as he will pitch the fourth game of the year against the Arizona Cardinals.
Urias likely is going to stay in the rotation only as long as the Dodgers need him and the second a door opens to go back to the bullpen that will be what the team does. Whether or not that is good for his progression is up for debate.
However, what the Dodgers must avoid doing is setting a hard innings cap on Urias that is just usually a trivial, round number. We have seen this before with Stephen Strasburg and shutting Urias down if he hits exactly 130 innings pitched (or whatever it is) would be foolish.
It should be based on how he feels. If he has any sort of dead arm or discomfort then an IL stint is not a bad idea. If he is going into the postseason feeling better than ever then the 20-30 extra innings as a starter are not going to ruin his career.