Los Angeles Dodgers: Why the starting rotation will be just fine
By Jason Reed
2. You can only exceed expectations with the trio of Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin
One concern about the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starting rotation heading into 2019 is that the team is relying on inexperienced pitchers, which is risky. Yes, the team is relying on inexperienced pitchers to fill out the back-half of the rotation, but in this case, it is not risky.
The Dodgers have two elite young arms in Dustin May and Julio Urias. May has elite stuff and is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball right now and Urias was widely regarded as the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball.
Tony Gonsolin rose quickly through the ranks and performed better than May last season, showing he has the stuff to be a reliable starting pitcher and one day could even be an all-star.
Urias finished eighth in Major Leagues in ERA among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched last season. While being a starter is different, he showed that is stuff is just as filthy now as it was before shoulder surgery.
And while there may be some sort of innings limit on these guys, it is not like that is a bad thing. If the Dodgers ask these three to go six innings a start and rotate them throughout the year and limit them to 23-25 starts each that is only 138-150 innings pitched. It is more than doable while also being manageable.
You figure that one of these young arms are bound for a breakout year in which they play a much bigger role and even if the other two don’t, they are still very talented and will be much better than other team’s back-end options.