Dodgers rookie Julio Urias allows 3 runs, exits after 2 2/3 innings

ByDOUG PADILLA
May 27, 2016, 9:26 PM

— -- NEW YORK -- The first teenage starter in 11 years failed to get through three innings Friday, when Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Julio Urias departed after 2 2/3 innings against the New York Mets.

A fill-in starter for Alex Wood, who is dealing with minor triceps soreness, the 19-year-old Urias brought a 27-inning scoreless streak at Triple-A into the outing. It did not continue; Urias gave up three runs in the first inning.

Neil Walker delivered the first run off the left-hander with an RBI single, and Juan Lagares followed with a two-run double. Both RBI hits came with two outs.

Urias walked one batter in a scoreless second inning, before walking two more and loading the bases in the third. He was replaced by right-hander Chris Hatcher, who got out of the jam with a strikeout of opposing pitcher Jacob deGrom.

All three Mets runs off Urias were earned; he gave up five hits with four walks. He struck out three and threw a wild pitch. Limited to just 90 pitches for the game, Urias ended up throwing 81.

He became the first Dodgers pitcher to throw 80-plus pitches in less than three innings since Clayton Kershaw on June 10, 2009, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Kershaw's came in his 33rd major league start. 

The last pitcher to start a major league game before his 20th birthday was Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners. On Aug. 4, 2005, Hernandez gave up just one earned run over five innings against the Detroit Tigers, throwing 81 pitches in a game he ultimately lost.

The Mets' Dwight Gooden in 1984 remains the only teenage starting pitcher in the past 42 years to win his big league debut.

Urias became the first teenager to play for the Dodgers since Fernando Valenzuela in 1980 and the youngest starting pitcher since Dick Calmus in 1963.

"He's got four legit pitches. That's more than I have now," Kershaw, the Dodgers' ace, said. "He's got the really hard slider that just shows his aptitude, can learn it in a spring training, and then his curveball still is there, too."

The Dodgers thought the poised Urias would be able to handle the outside factors that come with making a start in New York.

"I think we thought it through as an organization and we just feel good that his time is now," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. "We believe in Julio as a player, so I think this is fun for baseball and exciting for baseball in general. For us, there is no better stage."

Urias failed to make the stage his own but did show signs of promise. He struck out the first batter he faced, Curtis Granderson, and offered better command in the second inning. But he was missing both high and low in the strike zone, a sign his release point was not ideal.

Even before the outing, the Dodgers were noncommittal about having Urias start again. Wood is expected to return to the rotation Monday at Chicago against the Cubs. With Mike Bolsinger recently added to the roster, the Dodgers are presently carrying six starters.

"I think that going forward, we have obviously said from the beginning, us as an organization, we're going to monitor his innings," Roberts said. "He's at 90 pitches tonight, and after tonight we'll all sit down and evaluate going forward what is best for Julio as well as the organization."

The Dodgers were not worried that a poor showing in his debut would set back Urias' development.

"I have been around some really good young pitchers who have immediately hit the ground running, and I have been around really good young pitchers who have taken some time to feel their way through it," president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. "We will continue to read and react as long as Julio is up. And when he is back down, do everything we can to continue to put him in the best position to succeed for the long term."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.