Dodgers phenom Julio Urias didn’t have a great outing in his major league debut last week, giving up three runs on five hits and walking four in two and two-thirds innings against the Mets. And, what’s worse, he needed 81 pitches to get even that far.
Dave Roberts and the L.A. brain trust gave Urias as second chance today against the Cubs. It was the sort of performance that made them all pine for the halcyon days of facing the Mets.
Urias was rocked by the best team in baseball, giving up six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits. On the bright side he only walked one batter! On the not-so-bright side he gave up three homers. Maybe staying in the strike zone is not a great idea for him just yet.
I think the “just yet” is the key part here. Urias has great stuff and velocity. He has clearly dominated Triple-A batters. But he’s still just 19. Sometimes there are young studs who can just jump into the bigs and kick butt. Most of the time even the best of ‘em get rocked a few times before they figure it out. Urias is in good company in that regard.
He may be in old company after this game is over, though. As in “with his Triple-A friends in Oklahoma City” company, where the organization may prefer him to be in order to get some confidence back after two poor outings against two pretty darn tough teams.