The starting pitcher for the opening game of the regular season for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year was Mexican left-hander Julio Urias.
Urias, who won the National League title in this category with an ERA of 2.16 last year, has been officially recognized as the Dodgers’ first starter. Director Dave Roberts had nothing to worry about. This was because Clayton Kershaw, who started in the opening game nine times, was clearly deteriorating due to frequent injuries, and Walker Buehler, who emerged as a young ace, had Tommy John surgery last year and took a break this season.
Moreover, since Yurias will become a free agent after this season, he has a clear personal motivation and is determined to face the season. Of course, he was in good condition during spring training, and he represented his country at the World Baseball Classic and experienced the joy of advancing to the semifinals, albeit sluggishly.
However, Yurias is having a rough first half. Jagged pitching follows.
In an away game against the St. Louis Cardinals held at Busch Stadium on the 19th (hereafter Korean time), Urias allowed 6 runs with 6 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings and was defeated. The Dodgers lost 8-16. The St. Louis batting line hit the Dodgers mound with 7 home runs for the first time in 83 years since the Brooklyn Dodgers game on May 8, 1940, continuing the upward trend of 9 wins and 2 losses in the last 11 games.
However, out of the 7 homers, Yurias gave up 4 of them. This day was the first start of Yurias career against St. Louis. After the match, Urias blamed himself saying, “There were a lot of mistakes and I know that he paid a heavy price for that. He should be more careful in throwing the ball.”
“I don’t want to disparage the other team,” Roberts said. I couldn’t see a stable rhythm from the first ball today.”
Urias was hit with 4 homers only in the bottom of the 3rd inning, leading 3-0. After giving up a 3-run home run to Wilson Contreras in the middle of the month with one out and 1st and 2nd base, he allowed three consecutive solo home runs by Juan Yepez, Nolan Gorman and Paul Dijon. It is the second time in team history that a Dodgers pitcher has hit four home runs in one inning. On May 29, 1954, Ben Wade gave up 4 home runs in the 8th inning against the New York Giants.
Two out of four home runs were hit with a changeup, and five out of 14 home runs this year were hit with a changeup. Last year, of his 23 home runs, only two were changeups. Less than a third of the season has passed, but the number of home runs already exceeded half of last year.
In the second half of the game, the Dodgers chased hard with Freddy Freeman’s grand slam, and there was a close battle, but as the bullpen collapsed, Yurias could not avoid defeat. The starting pitcher gave us so many points in the beginning.
As of this day, Yurias is tied for first place overall in the home run category. Kansas City Royals Jordan Lyles also allowed 14 home runs. He is clearly revealing his limitations ahead of FA.먹튀검증
After this season, Yurias is evaluated as the greatest pitcher in the free agent market (excluding Shohei Ohtani, who is also a pitcher). Following 2021 (20 wins, 3 losses, 2.96) and 2022 (17 wins, 7 losses, 2.16), it is expected that a total of more than $ 200 million will be enough if they perform an ace-level performance again this year. However, in the first nine games of the season, the ups and downs are severe. It is already the third game that gave more than 5 points. In particular, the away ERA is 7.61, compared to 1.99 at Dodger Stadium.
For the Dodgers, Dustin May, who returned from elbow surgery, was on the IL today with an arm injury. Here, Yurias is uneasy. In the end, it is said that Kershaw should play the role of an ace. Kershaw, who recorded 6 wins and 3 losses in 9 games and an earned run average of 2.52, has a good pace to watch the 4th video of his career. The last time Kershaw received a Cy Young Award was in 2014. he is 26 years old
The 27-year-old’s best performance was last year’s third place in the NL Cy Young Award voting. The rest of the season is required.
