While the Los Angeles Dodgers publicly maintained for multiple weeks during Spring Training that Julio Urias was competing for a spot in the Opening Day rotation, their handling of the precious young lefty told a different story.
Urias never threw more than 2.2 innings in any of his five Cactus League games (three starts). Sure enough, he remained at Camelback Ranch when the Dodgers broke camp. Urias was included on the High-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes Opening Day roster, but made his 2017 debut with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
One week into the regular season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Urias joining the team by the end of April made “sense.