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Secondary pitches real weapons for Urias
- Updated: October 19, 2016
The first thing to know about Julio Urias is the first thing that everyone already knows about him: He’s really, really young. Historically so, actually. When he takes the mound for the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLCS on Wednesday night, he’ll become the youngest postseason starter in Major League history. The Dodgers lead the series, 2-1, after posting a 6-0 victory over the Cubs in Game 3 on Tuesday.
The Dodgers’ championship drought was already nearly eight years old when he was born. Vin Scully was nearly five decades into his broadcasting career when Urias was born. We could do this all day. He’s young. But while you’ll hear a ton about his age, “20” isn’t really the most important number for Urias.
• NLCS Game 4: Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FS1
What’s important is the type of pitcher Urias has proven himself to be in his rookie year, regardless of what his birth certificate says, because he’s still evolving — especially, perhaps, with his curveball. For example: If you look at the totality of Urias’ first regular season, you’ll see some pretty solid numbers.
Game Date Time Matchup TV/Highlights Gm 1 Oct. 15 CHC 8, LAD 4 Gm 2 Oct. 16 LAD 1, CHC 0 Gm 3 Oct. 18 LAD 6, CHC 0 Gm 4 Oct. 19 8 p.m. CHC @ LAD FS1 Gm 5 Oct. 20 8 p.m. CHC @ LAD FS1 *Gm 6 Oct. 22 TBD LAD @ CHC FS1 *Gm 7 Oct. 23 TBD LAD @ CHC FS1 * If necessary | All times listed ET • NLCS coverageShop for postseason gear: Cubs | Dodgers
Urias had a 3.39 ERA and a 3.17 Fielding Independent Pitching mark, both above-average and more or less the same as what Texas ace Yu Darvish posted this year. That alone makes it one of the most impressive seasons by a teenager in modern history. (Though he turned 20 in August, it’s still considered his “age-19 season”).
But even that high praise may be underselling him a bit. Urias’ first two appearances (eight earned runs in 7 2/3 innings) didn’t exactly get him off to a good start, and did a fair bit to impact his overall season line. Since then, he’s thrown 69 1/3 regular-season innings with a 2.73 ERA and a 2.60 FIP, and those numbers are spectacular. After that brief acclimation period, Urias basically pitched like Kelvin Herrera (72 innings, 2.75 ERA, 2.47 FIP), and he did it from the left side.
Now, it’s fair to note that one of those two poor initial starts came against these same Cubs, when he allowed home runs to Kris Bryant, …
