Juliomania starts today

Red(s)HawksFan

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He threw 87 innings as a 17-year old and 81 innings last year as an 18-year-old, and he's at 41 innings thus far this season. How much use are they going to get out of him before they have to shut him down entirely? Figure they want to bump him to maybe 120 total innings, that leaves about 80 for the rest of the year. They could eat that up quickly (~12-14 starts) if he pitches even halfway decent given the state of the Dodger rotation. Are they maybe thinking this is their best stop-gap measure to get someone reliable behind Kershaw until the deadline market becomes a bit clearer and they can make an acquisition?

There's no way they blow through his innings cap if he's their clear #2 in the stretch drive, right?
 

mauidano

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Great article! Was looking around to find out some background on his rise to The Show. Boras as his agent, huh? That always adds a different dynamic to the equation. Unless he is lights out, I wouldn't expect I'm to stick around much at this point, however being a LHP, you never know. Easy to manage innings at AAA. It's not as important that he pitch deep into games at that level. I am looking forward to seeing him in action and will be flipping back and forth between that game and the Sox game.
 

Darnell's Son

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Well, that didn't last long.

His line for the night:

2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 3 ER, and 4 Ks on 81 pitches (42 strikes)
 

jon abbey

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Back to AAA today, those innings limits mentioned above should keep him from contributing much on the major league level this year.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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I don't follow the Dodgers that closely, but I'm aware that outside Kershaw, their rotation has been suspect. Were they truly desperate for a starter for yesterday's game and brought Urias up because they had no other options or did they expect more than what they got and sent him right back down because he didn't pitch well? Because adding him to the 40-man roster, starting his service clock and likely burning an option year just for a one and done spot start seems like folly to me.

I'm sure there's an expectation that he's not far from coming to the big leagues and staying in the big leagues, but with a 19 year old who has never exceed 90 innings in any professional season, you have to figure he's still at least two years away from being a full time big league contributor, at least as a starter. I'd be concerned that he could experience a set back or two and/or just need minor league seasoning through age 22 or 23, and now they've handcuffed themselves to a degree. And for what?

I can see doing it for an extended look-see when the team is otherwise out of it, like the Sox did last year with Owens, but it seems like there had to be an alternative to rushing Urias to do what he did last night. Kinda headscratching.
 

Marciano490

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He threw 87 innings as a 17-year old and 81 innings last year as an 18-year-old, and he's at 41 innings thus far this season. How much use are they going to get out of him before they have to shut him down entirely? Figure they want to bump him to maybe 120 total innings, that leaves about 80 for the rest of the year. They could eat that up quickly (~12-14 starts) if he pitches even halfway decent given the state of the Dodger rotation. Are they maybe thinking this is their best stop-gap measure to get someone reliable behind Kershaw until the deadline market becomes a bit clearer and they can make an acquisition?

There's no way they blow through his innings cap if he's their clear #2 in the stretch drive, right?
Here's what I never got about innings limits - not all innings are created equal, correct? There's less stress on your arm throwing a ten pitch inning than a 25 pitch inning. And, I imagine there's less stress getting pitching to three batters with the bases empty than three with runners in scoring position.

So, why isn't there a slightly more complex way of counting innings towards a cap? Couldn't you come up with a formula where you assign a variable to, say, 10-15 pitch innings, 15-25 pitch innings, etc. and do the same for high leverage innings and use that to tell how much stress should be put on a young arm?
 

kelpapa

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Here's what I never got about innings limits - not all innings are created equal, correct? There's less stress on your arm throwing a ten pitch inning than a 25 pitch inning. And, I imagine there's less stress getting pitching to three batters with the bases empty than three with runners in scoring position.

So, why isn't there a slightly more complex way of counting innings towards a cap? Couldn't you come up with a formula where you assign a variable to, say, 10-15 pitch innings, 15-25 pitch innings, etc. and do the same for high leverage innings and use that to tell how much stress should be put on a young arm?
I think Curt Schilling makes the same arguments about inning limits, and for the most part, I agree with it.

When you start discussing pitches, couldn't you make a similar argument, though? Not all pitches have the same stress. They vary based on the situation of the pitch and the actual type of pitch that's thrown.
 

Marciano490

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I think Curt Schilling makes the same arguments about inning limits, and for the most part, I agree with it.

When you start discussing pitches, couldn't you make a similar argument, though? Not all pitches have the same stress. They vary based on the situation of the pitch and the actual type of pitch that's thrown.
That's another point I was thinking, but didn't know enough about it to discuss what's rougher on the arm among the pitches and how much so. My point, I guess, is that with all the specified research and analysis in baseball now, it seems innings caps are antiquated and I was curious whether there's a more fulsome tracking measure out there or roughly how one would look.
 

ZMart100

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The Dodgers could have delayed and given him a start against ATL to boost his confidence, but gave him the start against the Cubs today. He was hit hard.
5 IP 5ER 8H 1BB 4K 3HR