Dodgers News: Analyst Praises Julio Urias's Consistent Season
Dodgers ace Julio Urias finished third in the National League Cy Young Award voting, thanks in part to eight voters who left him off their ballots entirely. Yes, you read that right: Eight baseball writers thought the guy who led the league in ERA — or, put another way, the guy who was the best at not letting the other team score, which is literally a pitcher's job — wasn't even one of the five best pitchers in the league.
One voter who got it right was J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, who placed winner Sandy Alcantara first (as all 30 voters did) and Urias second. Hoornstra was on SportsNetLA explaining his vote, and he said Urias's consistency really stuck out to him.
“There were no clunkers,” J.P. Hoornstra said. “One thing I really prize is consistency. And we talk about Julio Urias being an ace, emerging into that role this season. One of the pillars of an ace, one of the characteristics of an ace, is that you know what you’re going to get or you feel like you know what you’re going to get from that pitcher every time he goes out. And with each of the other contenders — Aaron Nola, Corbin Burnes, Carlos Rodon, that’s who filled out my ballot — there was one, maybe two clunkers in there. And Julio Urias just didn’t have any. He was the same pitcher, more or less, every single time he took the ball. That was the differentiator for me.”
Hoornstra's assessment was especially accurate for the second half of the season. From the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, Julio didn't allow more than two runs in a single game. That's 14 straight starts of two runs or less. Unsurprisingly, he went 10-1 with a 1.27 ERA in those 14 starts.
While it's not quite accurate that Julio didn't have any clunkers — he allowed five earned runs to the Phillies on May 14 and again to the Cubs on July 10 — each of the other pitchers on Hoornstra's ballot had at least four or five clunkers. Urias allowed four earned runs or more just three times all year; even winner Alcantara had six such games.
It might be time to give Julio a new Spanish nickname: El Consistente.
