Julio Urias is considered the Los Angeles Dodgers' No. 2 overall prospect and he's only 19 years old. Although he's excelling in the minor leagues, it doesn't appear as if he'll be making his MLB debut in early September.
Manager Don Mattingly told Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com that Urias "probably would not be one of the guys we see right away," when the rosters expand next week. Urias is 3-4 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 74 strikeouts in 13 starts (68 1/3 innings) with Double-A Tulsa this year.
The left-hander missed some time due to eye surgery in May, which could perhaps be part of the reason he won't be an immediate call-up. Mattingly said Urias has not been ruled out as a candidate to pitch in relief for the Dodgers due to their horrid bullpen situation, but there are other MLB-ready prospects that can fill that role for Los Angeles too.
Pitchers Jharel Cotton (6-2, 2.19 ERA) and Chris Anderson (9-7, 4.05 ERA) were promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City this week and could be closer to making their MLB debuts.
Although Urias is the top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball, he still has some work to do. Baseball America mentioned in its scouting report that the 19-year-old "will continue to sharpen his fastball command to help his plus curveball and changeup play up even more" during the second half of the season.
Since returning from eye surgery, Urias is 2-2 with a 2.93 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in nine starts. He just started getting back in the groove this month by pitching deeper into games and giving up fewer runs, so it's possible the Dodgers want to give him some more time to maintain his rhythm before introducing him to the big leagues.
It's unknown how exactly the Dodgers plan to develop Urias since he has only pitched in relief five times (out of 59 games) in his minors career. The team has issues with both their starting rotation and bullpen, but Urias could be subject to a growing trend in the MLB.
"The most interesting potential fix [for the bullpen] is to promote the team's best pitching prospect, 19-year old Julio Urias," Saxon wrote earlier this month.
"He's a starting pitcher, of course, so it would take some getting used to, but teams have been breaking their top pitching prospects in as relievers fairly routinely lately. It didn't seem to affect Carlos Martinez's development in St. Louis. He came up at 21, pitched mostly in relief for two years and now he's one of the most dominant starters in the major leagues."
The Dodgers' bullpen ranks 23rd in ERA (4.16) and third in blown saves (19), so if things continue to get worse between now and early September it's possible the team might be more inclined to give Urias the call.
