Dodgers: Dave Roberts Believes Julio Urías is Now a Complete Pitcher

The Dodgers are going to need their starting pitchers to have very efficient outings. With so many injuries to their pitching staff, getting their 1 through 4 guys deep into games is huge. Staying out of the bullpen as much as possible is a win every night. 

On Tuesday night, Julio Urías was able to pitch into the 7th inning for the 3rd time in 4 starts. He punched out 8 batters and allowed just 3 hits on the night. It was one of those nights that reminded Dodgers fans why this team has been so high on him for so long. 

As far as his development, Dave Roberts said that Julio has come a long way. In years past, the goal has been for the Dodgers to get him going right after hitters. Urías had previously had a tendency to try to pitch around the bats of opposing hitters. 

I think with Julio now, he’s a lot more efficient. With his secondary pitches, whether it’s a changeup or the slurve that he throws, he can strike that to get ahead to get back into a count and he’s just not as predictable. So I think that being able to command the fastball, be more efficient with the breaking stuff, allows him to go deeper in games.

When asked if he thought Urías had become a complete pitcher, Doc had good things to say. The Dodgers skipper thinks that Julio continues to come through in big situations. 

Yeah, he’s as seasoned as any pitcher around the league. He’s pitched in a ton of big spots, and very well.  .. he’s as good as there is. 

The development of that slurve is something that Julio will look back on as the turning point in his career. He’s generating far more whiffs with the reinvented pitch, but it’s also allowing him to attack the zone with his fastball more often. That has worked out very well for the Dodgers. 

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Through 4 starts in May, Julio has just 1 blemish in Anaheim. He has combined for 25.2 innings and 8 earned runs for an ERA of 2.81 in the month. If you remove that bad start against the Angels, he has 20.2 innings and an incredible 1.31 ERA for May. 

If he can keep getting deep into games, the Dodgers are going to be very well off with the guys that they have. Julio is one heck of a guy to anchor the backside of a starting rotation. 

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