Dodgers: Julio Urías Has a Second Rehab Start for the Quakes
Julio Urías is trying to make his way back to Dodger Stadium to help out in the bullpen. His first start for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes is documented here and left me with a lot of optimism. He showed good command of the changeup and the fastball got better as his outing progressed. It was also thought that his next appearances would be for the AA Tulsa Drillers. When I saw the news about another start for the Quakes I changed my plans for August 15 to go see Julio pitch again. The goal of this start was for Urías to pitch two full innings plus one more batter in the third. The Dodgers wanted to see how he would react to sitting down twice in between innings.
First Inning
The first few pitches seemed to be fastballs and changeups but the radar gun that usually shows the velocity wasn’t working. The display worked on the 5th pitch and his first fastball that was recorded was 91 MPH. In the first inning, it didn’t seem he was mixing up his pitches as he seemed to throw a few changeups he threw 7 pitches in a row from 89-94 MPH. Sometimes, during rehab assignments, the goal is to work on specific things. The first inning had Julio end up with a swing and miss changeup to strike out the cleanup hitter.
Urias sends down the final three batters of the first inning after allowing a leadoff double. 17 pitches, 1 strikeout, tops at 94 MPH.
— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) August 16, 2018
Second Inning
Of the 17 pitches thrown in the first inning, only 9 were strikes. It was clear he was struggling with his control and that continued into the 2nd inning. During the 1st batter he threw a couple of pitches as 88 MPH and I wondered about the pitch type. In his previous MLB stints, his slider clocked in at 86 MPH so it could have been a slider. On a 3-2 count, he hit the batter with a 70 MPH curveball. The 2nd batter of the inning hit a home run on an 86 MPH slider that was located right down the middle from my view. The last batter he faced he did get a curveball over for a strike (the only time) but threw another slider at 85 MPH. He struck out the batter on a 78 MPH pitch that looked like a changeup. His hardest pitch of the inning was 91 MPH and he was pulled after a total of 32 pitches. For the 2nd inning, he threw 15 pitches with only 7 for strikes.
Julio Urias final line: pic.twitter.com/1bBcFO71AB
— Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (@RCQuakes) August 16, 2018
Urías Second Start Summary
Obviously, it was a disappointing outing as Urías was not able to attain the goal of two innings plus one batter. Each pitch type was a struggle to control. With this long period of being inactive (surgery was June 2017) this should not surprise us. However, I know many are hoping he can help the Dodgers in the 2018 bullpen and this would be considered a setback. The Dodgers will evaluate this start and make a decision for the next stop.
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