Could the Dodgers promote top prospect Julio Urias?
The Los Angeles Dodgers are struggling. The offense isn’t clicking and the bullpen isn’t getting the job done. It’s been hard for them to get the ball to their All-Star closer Kenley Jansen. They may have an interesting solution for their issues in their bullpen.
Top prospect Julio Urias is off to a dominating start in AAA. In five games, he’s 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA, striking out 29 batters in 24 innings and allowed just 14 hits.
He’s just 19 years old, so the Dodgers have been very careful with his innings. They don’t want him to throw 200-plus innings quite yet. Teams used to have young starters start in the bullpen and then work their way into the rotation. Could the Dodgers do that with Urias? Yes, they could.
"We're looking through options and (Julio) Urias is definitely at the top of the list," Dave Roberts says of his bullpen.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) May 7, 2016
The Dodgers have other prospects that they can turn to for the bullpen as well.
In addition to Julio Urias, Dave Roberts said #Dodgers have discussed Jharel Cotton and Jose De Leon in 'pen. Urias is "leading discussions"
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 7, 2016
The Dodgers rotation has been good enough. Clayton Kershaw has been his usual Cy Young self. Kenta Maeda is off to a strong start in his first season in the US. They also have three starters on their way back from injury in Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy and Mike Bolsinger.
The Dodgers have built up a ton of depth in all areas, but their bullpen is continuing to be an issue. If they aren’t going to push Urias as a starter this year, then they should be creative and use his innings out of the bullpen. This is a team with playoff expectations and a faulty bullpen should not prevent them from getting there.
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