Here comes Julio Urias! Nineteen things to know about teenage pitchers

11:13 AM ET

When 19-year-old left-hander Julio Urias starts Friday night for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the baseball world will tune in to one of the most exciting debuts we’ll see this season. Urias is regarded as the second-best pitching prospect in the game behind Lucas Giolito of the Nationals, and has dominated at Triple-A Oklahoma City. He enters Friday’s start against the Mets riding a 27-inning scoreless streak while posting a season ERA of 1.10 with 24 hits and 44 strikeouts in 41 innings. Given his age, the Dodgers have him on a strict innings limit and he’s yet to top 82 pitches in a game, so don’t expect him to go too deep into this start.

The Dodgers first scouted Urias in Mexico when he was 15, and he was so polished they started him in Class A ball in 2014 when he was still just 16. That early precociousness means he will be the first teenager to start in the majors since Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, who made 12 starts as a teenager in 2005. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to look into the history of teenagers pitching in the majors. With help from indispensable Baseball-Reference Play Index, here are 19 things to know about teenage pitchers:

1. Urias will be just the fourth teenage pitcher in the past 25 years:

Here are the most recent pitchers to debut in the majors under the age of 20, a list Julio Urias will join tomorrow: pic.twitter.com/fZvhW31q4M

— High Heat Stats MLB (@HighHeatStats) May 26, 2016

2. Hernandez made his debut in August 2005, allowing two runs in five innings against the Tigers and taking the loss. But in his second start he pitched eight scoreless innings, and in his third he struck out 11 in eight innings and allowed just one run. That made him the first teenager since Dwight Gooden in 1984 to strike out 10 or more in a game. Gooden did that an amazing 15 times that season, all while 19 years old.

3. Most strikeouts in a game by a teenager:

1. Bob Feller, Oct. 2, 1938: 18 (19 years, 333 days)

2. Feller, Sept. 13, 1936: 17 (17 years, 315 days)

3. Feller, Aug. 25, 1937: 16 (18 years, 295 days)

3. Dwight Gooden, Sept. 12, 1984: 16 (19 years, 301 days)

3. Gooden, Sept. 17, 1984: 16 (19 years, 306 days)

6. Feller, Aug. 23, 1936: 15 (17 years, 294 days)

6. Gary Nolan, June 7, 1967: 15 (19 years 11 days)

4. That’s not a misprint: Feller was 17 when he debuted with Cleveland. That fall, he would go back to Iowa to finish up his senior year of high school, and Time magazine put him on its cover the following April. He flew home in May to attend his graduation.

5. You will note that Gooden …

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