Dodgers: Julio Urias Explains His Bounce Back Start Against the Phillies
Last week at Dodger Stadium, starter Julio Urías got positively shelled by the Philadelphia Phillies. He coughed up four home runs, including a mammoth shot to right field to two-time MVP Bryce Harper. Due to the Dodgers thin pitching staff, Urías gutted through six innings and finished his day with five earned runs.
On Friday night, Urías looked like a different pitcher. El Culichi twirled five shutout innings without walking a single batter (fun fact: Urías hasn't walked a batter since April 27th).
After the Dodgers 4-1 win, Urías explained why he was much more effective in the second of back-to-back starts against the dangerous Phillies lineup (quotes via OCR's Bill Plunkett).
“That’s just baseball, you know. I just made some adjustments mechanically in the bullpen. I think those adjustments worked out."
When asked if he focused on fine-tuning his breaking pinches during that bullpen, Urías responded:
"No, I think it was adjustments with all of the pitches overall.Some of those things I worked out. But it was adjustments all around.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts thinks that Julio's sequencing playing a major role in his superb starter at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think tonight he just really mixed well. I just thought he pitched to all quadrants. He crowded the righties with the fastball, some lefties. I thought the changeup was good, the breaking ball was good. I just thought tonight he did a really nice job of sequencing.”
Urías' ERA stands at 2.63 on the season. He'll likely start on Wednesday in Washington D.C. or on Thursday in Arizona.
