Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias was placed on the IL with a left calf contusion after being hit by a pitch on Friday night. Urias was able to stay in the game after being struck by the pitch. He ran for himself and continued to pitch in the game. So fans should not expect Urias to be on the IL for an extended period of time. Prior to leaving the game, Urias gave up two hits and walked two while striking out five across five innings. Julio would likely have remained in the game longer, but Matt Beaty did not seem to hear skipper Dave Roberts‘ attempts to have him return to the dugout. Beaty instead continued to the batter’s box and pinch hit for Urias in the sixth inning.
Urias Placed on IL
Urias is having his best season as a starting pitcher in his young career. The southpaw pitcher has already started 24 games, which is nine more games than any other season. Julio is currently in a tie with Kyle Hendricks for the MLB lead in wins with 13. In addition, Urias has the lowest WHIP of his career at 1.07. He has struck out 9.6 batters while only walking 1.9 batters per nine innings. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is just under five-to-one with 149 strikeouts and only 30 walks. He has only given up 1.1 home runs per nine innings as well. Julio’s ERA is 3.29 this season so far. These are fantastic numbers by the 24-year-old pitcher.
The Dodgers will need to find a way to replace Urias for one or two starts. This may be difficult with all of the injuries the Dodgers have seen in the pitching rotation of late. Clayton Kershaw, Danny Duffy, and Tony Gonsolin are all on the IL. Dustin May has been on the IL for a long time now. Add Urias to the list and that is a full rotation of injured pitchers. Cole Hamels is building up his pitch count to prepare to face major league hitters. So Roberts and the Dodgers front office have a lot of thinking to do to determine starting pitchers for games in the near future.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Julio Urias, Matt Beaty, Kyle Hendricks, Clayton Kershaw, Danny Duffy, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Cole Hamels
