Dodgers’ Julio Urías gets 2nd chance to represent Mexico in WBC
LOS ANGELES ― Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías has spent the majority of his professional career on an innings limit imposed by the team’s front office. The limit applied not only to his regular seasons in the minor and major leagues but to his spring trainings as well.
In 2017, that posed an awkward conflict. Urías was invited to pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. The team was captained by Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and managed by Gonzalez’s brother, Edgar. Three other Dodgers (Sergio Romo, Alex Verdugo and Vidal Nuño) committed to play in the March tournament.
Urías, who was 20 years old at the time, was not allowed to pitch. His innings limit would not allow it. The 2023 WBC, then, will be his first.
When Urías announced his commitment to pitch for Team Mexico on Tuesday, it was not merely a pledge for next year’s tournament. It was the fulfillment of a dream deferred.
“It’s going to be a very special moment to represent Mexico,” Urías said through an interpreter. “Mexico is everything for me. To be able to represent the country, my team – even here when we play at Dodger Stadium I feel like it’s a part of ‘little Mexico’ to come out and pitch among all my fans out here.”
Urías, who leads the National League in ERA (2.29) this season after leading the majors in wins (20) last year, is the most high-profile player to commit to play for Mexico in next year’s WBC. The Culiacán native would bolster a rotation that could potentially include Houston Astros pitcher Jose Urquidy and few other major leaguers.
Urquidy, from Mazatlan, recently told reporters he will wait until after the season to announce his plans.
The Dodgers have four other players who have already committed to the WBC: Will Smith, Trea Turner, and Mookie Betts have committed to play for Team USA. Freddie Freeman has committed to play for Team Canada. More Dodgers could participate in the international tournament next spring, but Manager Dave Roberts wasn’t aware of another commitment beyond coach Dino Ebel (USA).
Pool play at the WBC begins March 8 in Taiwan. Mexico, the U.S., and Canada will be in a pool with Colombia and a fifth qualifier team that begins play in Phoenix on March 11.
GONSOLIN SLOWED
Tony Gonsolin played catch in the outfield as the right-hander continued his progress back from a forearm injury. Roberts conceded that Gonsolin’s timeline to return “is not going as quickly as I think any of us would like.”
Now, for Gonsolin to begin the postseason with a typical starter’s workload, Roberts said “everything does have to go right” in his rehabilitation.
The National League Division Series begins Oct. 11. With the best record in baseball, a magic number in the single digits, and a month remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers are all but mathematically assured of beginning the postseason at home in the best-of-five NLDS.
Gonsolin was 16-1 with an NL-best 2.10 ERA at the time of his injury. He’s thrown 128⅓ innings in the regular season, the most of any single season in his career and nearly twice as many as 2021 (68⅓). There’s a strong temptation to draw a straight line from his workload to his injury.
But Roberts said the Dodgers hadn’t seen any early-season “markers” to indicate Gonsolin’s injury was inevitable. Nor did he harbor any remorse over not skipping one of Gonsolin’s starts to manage his workload.
“Right now we’re looking at it as a three-week break, essentially,” Roberts said. “Hopefully (Gonsolin) can use this time to catch his breath, get back, get strength back, and have him through October.
ALSO
Gavin Lux doesn’t have a timetable to return to baseball activities, Roberts said, though the infielder is improving in his recovery from a neck/back ailment. He is expected to avoid the injured list. … Rehabbing left-hander Danny Duffy allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning at Triple-A Oklahoma City, throwing just 10 strikes on 23 pitches. … Rehabbing right-hander Tommy Kahnle needed only six pitches to complete a scoreless inning in the same game.
UP NEXT
San Francisco (RHP Alex Cobb, 5-6, 3.58 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Clayton Kershaw, 7-3, 2.59 ERA), Wednesday, 1:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network, 570 AM