Julio Urias, starting pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers
By and large, the Dodgers were conservative with Urias in 2016. Between AAA Oklahoma City and the majors, Urias was held to only 122 innings in 29 appearances and 22 starts.
But when he was out there, Urias was excellent. In 45 AAA innings, he posted a 1.40 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 49 strikeouts. When moving up to Los Angeles, Urias posted a 3.39 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts in 77 innings. The Major League WHIP is a little high but remember, Urias didn’t even turn 20 until August of 2016.
In terms of pitches and innings, expect the Dodgers to remain relatively cautious with Urias. But now he’s already got more MLB experience and success than plenty of pitchers a few years older.
Even with a conservative watch, Urias is expected to take a step forward in 2017. He was missing a lot of bats in 2016, so those numbers were not fluky. Hitters just had a hard time making solid contact.
If anything, his high WHIP was the outlier in 2016. The low ERA and strong strikeout rate were solid indicators that hitters weren’t making loud contact. A few balls might have found holes, but the other numbers show that’s less likely to happen in the future, beginning with 2017.
Even on a conservative pitch and innings count, expect good numbers from the Los Angeles youngster.