With Clayton Kershaw dealing with back pain recently and Walker Buehler out for a while, the Los Angeles Dodgers knew they needed an ace, a guy they could give the ball every five days and hope he can deliver six or seven top-notch innings every turn.
Tyler Anderson, Tony Gonsolin, and Andrew Heaney have all been fantastic, but the Dodgers had a prime internal candidate with youth, experience, and the present-day performance to deserve the unofficial “ace” title: left-hander Julio Urias.
With both Kershaw and Buehler sidelined, there isn’t a better candidate to lead the Dodgers rotation than the talented southpaw.
His manager, Dave Roberts, said he has been ready for a while.
“Dave Roberts on Julio Urías’ rise to the head of the Dodgers rotation: ‘He was ready when the opportunity was going to present itself. At some point, it was inevitable and so he’s continuing to graduate and move up. And clearly, he’s taking this opportunity and, and run with it,'” Dodgers insider Fabian Ardaya tweeted.
Dave Roberts on Julio Urías' rise to the head of the Dodgers rotation: "He was ready when the opportunity was going to present itself. At some point, it was inevitable and so he's continuing to graduate and move up. And clearly, he's taking this opportunity and, and run with it."
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 10, 2022
A Consistently Good Star
After being 2021’s lone 20-game winner, Urias is having another fantastic season in 2022.
In 122.2 innings, he is posting a career-best 2.49 ERA.
He has 117 strikeouts against just 24 walks, and has become someone the Dodgers can rely on every night he takes the ball.
Urias is on a roll: he is 6-0 in his last seven starts, with an incredible 2.20 ERA in 41 frames.
He also has a 0.85 WHIP over that time, too.
He is stingy with walks, hits, and home runs, and no one in the league is as consistently good at suppressing runs as he is.
The Dodgers have a really good one in Urias, who has also been relatively healthy in the past two years.
He is a true asset to one of the best rotations in the game.
NEXT: Trea Turner Matches An MLB Legend With Current Hit Streak