Julio Urias is the pitcher the Dodgers deserve

Monday’s Say Hey includes Julio Urias channeling Clayton Kershaw, the Cardinals’ payroll issues, and fisticuffs in the A’s clubhouse.

by Ashley Varela

Aug 22, 2016, 11:59 AM UTC

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

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The Dodgers aren't totally lost without Clayton Kershaw. They're currently half a game up on the Giants for first place in the NL West, they have the most strikeouts of any major league team (1,133, although you can disregard the 145 that Kershaw contributed before he hit the disabled list) paired with the sixth-lowest team ERA (3.79), and they have Julio Urias. On Sunday, after dropping back-to-back games to the Reds, the Dodgers sent out 20-year-old Urias for his 11th start of the season. Over six scoreless frames, Urias dealt a six-hit shutout with six strikeouts en route to a 4-0 finish. Not only did the shutout derail the Dodgers' three-game losing streak, but it was just the fourth time in franchise history that a pitcher 20 years old or younger notched three consecutive wins.

It’s been a roller coaster of a rookie season for Urias, who has yet to find a permanent role within the Dodgers’ pitching staff. He’s excelled out of the starting rotation and the bullpen, posting a 4.02 ERA on the year with a 9.1 percent walk rate and 24.6 percent strikeout rate in 57 innings pitched. Combined with the 45 innings he tossed at Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to his major league debut, Urias has already accrued more innings than any other year of his professional career, and the Dodgers will likely continue monitoring his workload as the postseason draws closer.

The Dodgers' predicament supersedes their workload limitations with Urias, however. Injuries of every shape and size have culled the best starters from the pitching staff, and while Kershaw appears to be on the mend, it may be some time before he returns to regularly scheduled starts. With the postseason looming and Urias already past the 100-inning mark, the team will need to find ways to scale back the left-hander's involvement and hope that they can fill holes in the rotation down the stretch. If Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir manage to stay healthy, the offense pulls itself up from league average production and Urias continues to channel Kershaw in each of his outings, maintaining first place might not be as impossible as it seems.

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