Season Review 2020: Julio Urías

[Randi]

The Dodgers had one of the best starting rotations in baseball, and Julio Urías was an essential part of that. Urías was expected to be in the starting rotation before the season even began. After a rough start for Stripling and Wood getting injured only one game into his season, Urías was needed that much more. And he did not disappoint. 

In 10 starts this season, the most since his rookie year in 2016, Urías went 3-0 with a 3.27 ERA in 55 innings and struck out 45 batters while walking 18. His 7.4 K/9 (Strikeouts per 9 innings) was lower in 2020 than in year’s past, but his 2.9 (Walks per 9 innings) was the lowest of his career. 

The biggest issue that seemed to stick out this year for Urías was his struggles in the 1st inning. In the 1st inning this season, he had an ERA of 9.00 compared to his 1.85 ERA across the rest of his innings. Through the first time of the order, opponents were hitting .309 with an OPS of .910. The second time through the order, hitters weren’t nearly as successful against him, only hitting .149 with a .388 OPS. Urías also struggled to go deep into most of his games this season as well. In only four of his starts this season, he made it through the 6th inning, and only once was he able to get an out in the 7th. Urías had to grind at times to escape some tough spots, but he had a pretty strong 2020 season.

When the playoffs began, Urías was coming out of the bullpen as a long relief pitcher, but he did make two starts as well. Over 23 innings pitched, Urías had a ridiculous 1.17 ERA, and his opponents slashed .138/.179/.263 with an OPS of .441. He finished third in strikeouts behind Buehler and Kershaw with 29 and only walked 4 batters. His ERA was the best on the team in October and almost the best in all of baseball in the playoffs. In the postseason, 12 players had a 0.00 ERA, and none of their teams made it past the Wild Card round. Ian Anderson of the Braves was the only player who made it past the first round and had a lower ERA (0.96) than Urías. You could easily argue that Urías was the best pitcher in October and pitched 4.1 more innings than Anderson. His first huge moment of the postseason was Game 7 of the NLCS when he came into a tied game in the top of the 7th inning. Bellinger would go onto hit the go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 7th, and Urías would shut the Braves down for two more innings to advance to the World Series. 

Urías would have his most memorable outing as a Dodger when he came into Game 6 of the World Series in the 7th inning with the tying run on first and two outs. He would strikeout Yandy Diaz looking and go on to pitch the rest of the game, bringing home the Dodgers’ first World Series in over three decades. Urías yelling into the sky as Austin Barnes is running towards him is a memory that will replay in Dodger fans’ minds forever. 

Urías will only be 24 in 2021 and will be in his first year of arbitration. He is estimated to make around $2.3 million next season. 

Julio Urías 2020 Highlights