Dodgers News: Julio Urias Breaks Dave Roberts' Brain
Dodgers fans have been blessed for the better part of a decade in being able to debate who the staff ace is in LA. Clayton Kershaw is undoubtedly the de facto ace.
He's been there and done that for 14 years.
Over the past few seasons, Walker Buehler has been called the ace a time or two... or three... or ten. But he's often pushed the mantle back onto his rotation mate and mentor Kershaw. "As long as Kersh is here, he's the ace."
But the reality of it is, these days, the number one guy on the Dodgers rotation is Julio Cesar Urías.
The workhorse put together another electric start against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night allowing 2 runs over 7 innings. He threw just 76 pitches. He was outright dominant. Also, last night was the first time he allowed more than one run since July.
Urías, simply put, broke Dave Roberts' brain on Saturday night. After the game, Doc was asked about the left-hander's outing and he ran out of words to say.
“I’m having a hard time coming up with adjectives to describe him and what he’s done for us."
What Julio has done for the Dodgers is lead the team in starts (27), wins (16 -- tied with Tony Gonsolin), ERA (MLB-best 2.30), strikeouts (144), and he's second on the team in innings pitched (152.2 -- Tyler Anderson has 154.2).
Arguably, Urías has been the best pitcher on the team for the last four years. Since 2019, the lefty owns a 2.70 ERA over 106 games, 76 of which were starts.
When Roberts finally found the words for Julio, they were those of praise in the highest form.
“I certainly don’t have a vote. But it’s hard to ignore what this guy does for a championship caliber ball club. You’re talking Cy Young. He wasn’t an All-Star this year for some ridiculous reason. So to be able to be in that Cy Young conversation, I think that’s the floor.”
Cy Young is the floor...
After an All-Star snub this year, a Cy Young award would be a nice consolation prize.
