Julio Urías

Julio Urías

Urías with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014 spring training
Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitcher
Born: (1996-08-12) August 12, 1996
Culiacán, Sinaloa, México
Bats: Left Throws: Left

Julio César Urías (born August 12, 1996 in Culiacán, Sinaloa) is a Mexican pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. The Dodgers signed him on August 23, 2012, shortly after his 16th birthday.[1] They paid an undisclosed fee to the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League in order to secure his rights.[2]

Early life

Urias is the son of Carlos Urias.[3] He played with the Mexico national team as a youth, joining them on road trips since the age of 10.[4] The Dodgers discovered and signed Urias on the same June 2012 scouting trip in Mexico on which they signed Yasiel Puig.[5] The Dodgers paid a signing fee of $450,000, most of which went to the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexico League.[6]

Professional career

Urías made his pro debut on May 25, 2013, for the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League as the youngest player in the league, striking out six batters over three shutout innings.[7] He made a total of 18 starts and finished the season 2-0 with a 2.48 ERA, recording 67 strikeouts in 54.1 innings.[4] He spent 2014 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. In 25 appearances (20 of which were starts), he was 2-2 with a 2.36 ERA.[5][8] He struck out 109 batters while walking only 37.[9]

Urías was selected to play for the World team at the 2014 All-Star Futures Game[10] and was selected as the Dodgers organizational "Minor League Pitcher of the Year" for 2014.[11] He received an invitation to attend the team's 2015 major league spring training camp.[12] After pitching in two games, for a total of two innings and a 4.50 ERA,[13] he was the first to be cut from the roster and was reassigned to the team's minor league camp on March 14, 2015.[14]

Urías was ranked by MLBpipeline.com as the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball entering the 2015 season.[15] MLB.com ranked him the 8th-best prospect in baseball, and Baseball America named him the #10 prospect in 2015.[16][17] The Dodgers assigned him to the AA Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League to start the 2015 season.[18] He was 3–4 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 starts for Tulsa[19]

Urías pitching for the Oklahoma City Dodgers, triple-A affiliates of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in 2016

Urias was promoted to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers on August 31, 2015.[20] He struggled in his first AAA action, allowing nine runs in 4 1⁄3 innings over two starts.[19] He also allowed six runs, including a grand slam homer, in just one inning in his one start in the Pacific Coast League playoffs.[21] He was again invited to attend Dodgers spring training.[22]

Personal

Urias underwent three operations on his left eye during his youth to remove a benign mass. As a result, his left eye is nearly closed, but he is able to see through it.[5][23] When asked about his eye condition, he said, "That's how God works. He gave me a bad left eye but a good left arm."[5] On May 19, 2015, Urias had an elective surgery to correct the condition.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Dodgers Sign Mexican Lefty Julio Urias". Baseball America. August 23, 2012. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Julio Urias, 16, learning to be 'one of the guys'". Mlive.com. June 1, 2013. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  3. ↑ Hernandez, Dylan (6 March 2015). "Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias makes his father proud". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 Corona, Victor J. (30 April 2014). "Teen Urias seeks MLB future". The Sporting Nation. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hernandez, Dylan (23 February 2015). "Despite eye condition, prospect Julio Urias dazzles on the mound". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Saxon, Mark (15 March 2014). "Dodgers' 17-year-old prospect dazzles". ESPN. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Marshall, Ashley. "Teenager Urias shines in pro debut". Milb.com. Retrieved August 31, 2013.
  8. ↑ Saxon, Mark (1 March 2015). "Julio Urias becomes the buzz of camp". ESPN. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Dodgers News: Castro Talks Urias-Venezuela Comparison". Dodgers Nation. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Gurnick, Ken (24 June 2014). "Seager, Urias named to Futures Game roster". MLB.com.
  11. ↑ Stephen, Eric (26 September 2014). "Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, Julio Urias named Dodgers minor league players of the year". True Blue LA.
  12. ↑ Weisman, Jon (9 January 2015). "Arruebarrena, Seager, Urias among 17 non-roster Spring Training invitees". dodgers.com.
  13. ↑ Associated Press (14 March 2015). "Anderson throws 3 shutout innings as Dodgers beat Indians". ESPN. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  14. ↑ Gurnick, Ken (14 March 2015). "Urias among pitchers sent to Minor League camp". MLB.com. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  15. ↑ Cahill, Teddy (21 January 2015). "2015 Prospect Watch: Top 10 left-handed pitchers". MLB.com.
  16. ↑ "2015 Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. 20 February 2015.
  17. ↑ "Dodgers have 3 prospects in MLB.com top 13". True Blue LA.
  18. ↑ "Drillers Opening Roster Taking Shape". Drillers News. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Julio Urias minor league statistics & history". Baseball Reference.
  20. ↑ Bourbon, Steve (August 31, 2015). "Urias to start for Triple-A Oklahoma City". mlb.com. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  21. ↑ Stephen, Eric (September 10, 2015). "Julio Urias shelled in OKC loss, Great Lakes eliminated". SB Nation. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  22. ↑ Simon, Andrew (January 25, 2016). "Top pitching prospects invited to Dodgers camp". mlb.com. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  23. ↑ Passan, Jeff (13 July 2014). "Is 18 too soon for Dodgers phenom Julio Urias to debut in big leagues?". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  24. ↑ Stephen, Eric (19 May 2015). "Julio Urias to miss a month after eye surgery, which could pay off for Dodgers down the stretch". SB Nation. Retrieved 17 June 2015.

External links

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