Dodgers News: Julio Urias Issues Statement Inside Dominant Outing vs Mets

The league better watch out… Julio Urias might be back. All the way back. The Dodgers ace issued a statement with a dominant 6 innings in a win over the New York Mets. He also issued a statement directly to manager Dave Roberts.

“Vacation is over.”

After spending more than a month on the injured list with a hamstring strain, Urias made his return at the start of July and struggle in Kansas City, continuing a trend that had plagued him for most of 2023. One problem snowballed into something bigger. He says now he’s getting better at making adjustments on the fly and it’s helped him immensely over his last two starts.

“I haven’t done a good job of attacking and throwing first-pitch strikes,” Urías said in Spanish. “I think I’ve missed that this season and I think these last two starts, I’ve made a lot of adjustments to fix that.”

“I watched [Brandon Nimmo’s lead off double] on video and you can honestly see that I didn’t make my adjustment,” Urías said. “[From] then, you could see that I made those adjustments and something clicked, to where I feel like myself on top of the mound.”

Via LA Times

The work he’s put in has shown itself in a big way over his last two starts. Before the break, he allowed 2 bad luck runs on 3 hits over 6 innings at Dodger Stadium. He also struck out 8 batters in the win. Friday’s start was a clinic against the Mets, allowing just one hit while striking out 7 over 6 superb innings. That hit was the first batter of the game.

“What I’ve been looking for is to not necessarily fight with my mechanics, but just understand that you’re going to miss your spot but then you have to make the necessary adjustment,” Urías said. “I think it’s easy to let that spiral and throw three or four balls in a row, but it’s important to find the adjustment.”

At times, Urias has the tendency to let things spiral. It often can be seen in the way he wears his emotions on his sleeve. But the Julio we saw on Friday night had a different aura about him.

“He said it best. He said his vacation’s over,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Just the way he threw the baseball, he was in complete command tonight.”

With Clayton Kershaw now sidelined for longer than expected, Urias understands the assignment. If you want to be considered an ace, you need to do ace things. He needs to step up. And he did just that on Friday.

The Dodgers get back at it today with Tony Gonsolin (5-3, 3.86 ERA) on the hill against Kodai Senga (7-5, 3.31 ERA) and the Mets.

Photo credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports.