LOS ANGELES -- Injuries to Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill have created a spot for Julio Urias in the Dodgers’ rotation to open the season. His final preseason tuneup was as big a confidence booster as he and the Dodgers could have hoped for.
Urias needed just 42 pitches to get through four perfect innings in the Dodgers' 9-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, striking out four batters. He then threw another inning in the bullpen, as was the team’s plan.
“I stayed focused,” said Urias of his spring. “I’m happy to be with the team from the get-go. ... I was working on little things that I needed to get better, and just continued to work toward that goal.
“The fastball location, it was there today; it had been missing the last two outings, so that’s something that makes me happy.”
Urias needed just one of those fastballs to retire Mike Trout, who grounded out on the first pitch he saw from the 22-year-old left-hander.
“You know, I saw one pitch, but he’s just keeping everybody off balance,” said Trout. “I don’t know much about him, but the pitch I saw was [95 mph] or something. It was pretty good.
“He’s got good stuff. You look at guys who come back from surgery, you hope everything comes out the way it’s supposed to, and obviously he was feeling good tonight.”
Urias isn’t on a specific innings limit for 2019, but the Dodgers are staying mindful of the fact that he’ll need some stretching out due to the time he missed over the past two seasons. Urias underwent anterior capsule surgery in his left shoulder in June 2017, then pitched a total of 10 1/3 Major League innings in 2018, 6 1/3 of which came in the postseason.
"He looks really good, finally healthy,” said Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager. “That's the big thing for us, just having him be healthy and go out and do what he can do."
The plan is to have Urias go back and forth between the rotation and bullpen this season, depending on the club’s needs. Performances like Tuesday night’s won’t tempt the Dodgers to extend Urias’ stay in the rotation beyond the time he’s needed there.
“I don’t think it’s that difficult [to move Urias to the bullpen],” said manager Dave Roberts. “You’re looking at, ultimately, the range of where you want [him] in innings. So to keep him as a starter and then to log those innings on the front end, there’s not going to be a whole lot left on the back end.
“This is a guy that didn’t pitch a whole lot last year, and so we still have to appreciate that. … We’ve talked about it consistently. So to get him back in the bullpen, whenever that is, we’re prepared for that.”
The Dodgers’ offense did some solid work behind Urias, particularly in a seven-run second inning that saw 11 men come to the plate. The scoring began with a three-run home run off the bat of Cody Bellinger.