Julio Urias News: Dodgers Ace Will Start Game 1 for Team Mexico in WBC
Dodgers ace Julio Urias will pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic next month, but he won’t get to square off against any of his Dodgers teammates, at least in the first round. Mexico plays Team USA (which features Mookie Betts and Will Smith) on March 12, but Julio will have pitched the day before in his team’s tournament opener.
Team Colombia doesn’t have any Dodgers representatives, but they do have a healthy MLB presence. Gio Urshela of the Angels, Jorge Alfaro of the Red Sox, Elias Diaz of the Rockies, and Harold Ramirez of the Rays headline the offense for Colombia.
Urias is pitching for Team Mexico for the first time. When the last WBC was held in 2017, Julio was just 20 years old and coming off his rookie season, so LA wasn’t keen on him participating. This time around, he’s coming off two straight Cy Young contending seasons and has the team’s blessing to take part in the tournament as he enters his final year under contract before hitting free agency.
Urias starting Game 1 of the tournament likely means either Jose Urquidy of the Astros, Patrick Sandoval of the Angels, or Taijuan Walker of the Phillies will start Game 2 against Team USA. All pool-play games for Pool C, which includes Mexico, the USA, Great Britain, Colombia, and Canada, will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix between March 11 and March 15.
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