The Los Angeles Dodgers' top pitching prospect is 18-year-old Julio Urias. He has impressed in the minor leagues during his first two seasons and he continues to do so in spring training with the team. Based on his progression it's possible he reaches the 40-man roster in September.
Urias faced outfielders Joc Pederson and Chris Heisey, infielder Alex Guerrero and first baseman O'Koyea Dickson on Sunday during a 30-pitch batting practice session and proved he's able to compete at the major league level. The left-hander will pitch a spring training game, which will likely be on Friday, according to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.
Pederson said Urias is "special" and that the ball is "electric" when it comes out of his hands; Heisey said his stuff was "very impressive" and that he has "mound presence and maturity"; and Guerrero kept reiterating the left-hander was "nasty."
Despite taking a couple of major leaguers by surprise, Urias' success in the minor leagues as a 16- and 17-year-old already provided a bit of a foreshadow in regards to his future at the professional level. In 43 games (38 starts) between Class-A Great Lakes and High Class-A Rancho Cucamonga in 2013 and 2014, Urias was 4-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 1.106 WHIP and 176 strikeouts in 142 innings. Here's what Baseball America wrote about the left-hander after the 2013 season:
"Urias has the stuff and polish to be a frontline starter and move quickly. Opposing scouts thought he could have handled an even more aggressive assignment last year. Given his age, the Dodgers are trying to carefully monitor his workload, but he could reach the big leagues when he's still a teenager."
He throws a two-seam fastball, four-seam fastball, changeup and curveball, with his fastball having touched 98 mph before. His unprecedented progression provides an interesting case for the Dodgers, who may have two open spots in the starting rotation after 2015. Zack Greinke can opt out of his contract when the season ends and Brett Anderson is under a one-year contract, which could pave the way for Urias' promotion.
"In a perfect world, if we prepared him, at this time next year he is in here truly competing for a spot," said Josh Byrnes, the Dodgers' senior vice president of baseball operations. "But again, you never put limits on him. With this division with the Bumgarners, and the Cains, the Kershaws and the Greinkes and their debuts, guys have got there at a young age, so it does happen. He's got the talent where at least you have to think about that."
Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, General Manager Farhan Zaidi, pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and hitting coach Mark McGwire attended the batting practice session, so it likely wasn't a run-of-the-mill assignment for the 18-year-old.
Look for Urias to join the 40-man roster in September if continues his success at Double-A Chattanooga.
