Dodgers: Chris Taylor Has High Praise for Julio Urias
Last month, Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor and his fiancee (now wife) Mary did a charity golf event in his hometown of Virginia Beach. On CT3's Instagram, Mary documented the event and also did a Q&A with Chris about a wide range of topics.
One of the questions was about L.A. pitcher Julio Urias. Urias, of course, was signed out of Culiacan, Mexico, when he was just a teenager, and the follower asked Taylor how much Julio talks because of the potential language barrier.
CT3's response talked a little bit about Julio's English skills, but he most just transitioned into raving about Urias as a pitcher.
"His English is getting better. He's starting to talk more. But Julio is a great guy, everybody on the team loves him. And, obviously, I'm so happy for him, he had such an unbelievable year. We're stoked to have him on the Dodgers and coming back with us next year. In my opinion, Julio's the most underrated pitcher in baseball. The guy does it year in and year out and he's never been an All-Star, we have to vote Julio into the All-Star Game next year — that has to happen."
Taylor calls Urias "the most underrated pitcher in baseball." Julio finished seventh in the 2021 National League Cy Young voting after going 20-3 with a 2.96 ERA as the only 20-game winner in baseball. In 2022, he was even better, posting a 17-7 record and leading the league with a 2.16 ERA.
Julio has been better in the second half in each of those two seasons, which maybe explains why he hasn't made the All-Star team either year. In 2021, he was 11-3 with a 3.64 ERA at the All-Star break, and his ERA was a little higher when the pitching staffs were selected. In 2022, he was 7-6 with a 3.01 ERA, although his ERA was actually quite a bit lower when the pitchers were selected, as we found out he wasn't on the team during one of his very few poor starts when he allowed five runs in two innings to the Cubs.
So one year, he got dinged for the ERA, and the next year he got dinged for the W/L record. Hopefully, in 2023, Urias will properly be recognized as one of the top pitchers in baseball and take his rightful spot on the NL All-Star team.
