Julio Urias will become the seventh different pitcher to start for the Dodgers in their last eight games when the rookie left-hander takes the mound Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Manager Dave Roberts made the announcement prior to the Dodgers’ game against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Urias, 19, is 1-2 with a 4.98 earned-run average in 10 games (nine starts) with the Dodgers this season. The top prospect in the organization was 5-1 with a 1.40 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) at Triple-A this year.
Now in his fourth professional season, Urias has thrown 88 ⅓ regular season innings across the two levels this year. That’s a career high. Roberts declined to say how Urias’ season-long innings limit might play into Monday’s plans, but Urias hasn’t thrown more than six innings in a game this season. He’s topped 90 pitches twice, and 100 pitches once.
Urias has never faced the Phillies in his career. Philadelphia is among the worst-hitting teams against left-handed pitching this season; their .655 OPS against lefties ranks 29th among the 30 MLB teams.
Philadelphia will counter with Zach Eflin, a 22-year-old right-hander who was part of the three-team trade that sent Matt Kemp to San Diego, and Yasmani Grandal and Jimmy Rollins to Los Angeles.
Eflin was a Single-A prospect at the time. He’s 3-4 with a 4.77 ERA now, 10 starts into his major league career.