The left-handed pitcher is coming off a difficult relief that cost the Dodgers the second game.
Photo: Harry How / Getty Images
Mexican star starter Julio Urías did not have his best relief performance in the second game of the National League Championship Series, but the handler of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Dave Roberts, gave him all the confidence after choosing him for him Fourth Game.
It is true that there were several conversations between the technical staff of the Los Angeles team, but the Dodgers decided that Urías will start Game Four instead of Game Five.
The team made the decision before the 6-5 victory for the Dodgers against the Atlanta Braves in the third game that was played in the Los Angeles Dodger Stadium, and it was Roberts himself who made the announcement, regardless of whether the series was going to be 2-1 – the current mark – or 3-0, if the visiting team had won.
Several factors played a role in the decision, but the most important was how Urías was feeling after a tough presentation as a reliever in which he failed to maintain an advantage in the second game at Atlanta.
Although he threw only 14 pitches in that fateful eighth inning, they scored two runs with three hits, allowing the Braves to even the board before leaving them out in the ninth.
Roberts had previously said that there could be a “cost” due to the unconventional pitching strategy he has used this postseason, one in which the traditional roles of pitching are unclear.
A) Yes, Starters like left-hander Urías and right-hander Max Scherzer have come from the bullpen when the situation calls for it. But Roberts doesn’t think that will affect Urías in Game Four.
“I feel good about the moment he’s going through and I’m going to see it up closeRoberts stated. “As long as he’s efficient and he’s shooting the ball well, we’re going to let him continue.”
Urías, 25, has just launched 185.2 entries – a personal top – in 32 games in the regular season, plus 10 innings in the playoffs. But it has remained healthy, since missed a single start after being hit by a pitch to the left calf last August.
Urías, who has already become the Mexican pitcher with the most strikeouts prescribed in playoff competition, by surpass the legendary Fernando Valenzuela, ended the year with a 2.96 ERA, the seventh best in the National League.
He also became the first 20-game winner at the Old Circuit since Scherzer, now his teammate with the Dodgers, did it when he was with the Washington Nationals in 2016.
In each of his two Division Series appearances against the Giants, Urías allowed one run, with 10 strikeouts and a walk in nine innings between the two.
The way he’s been used so far in the 2021 postseason is reminiscent of what he did during the 2020 postseason, when he moved between the rotation and the bullpen very effectively.
Now, on Wednesday, Urías will reopen, this time without entering after an initiator. It will be the Braves who will go with a bullpen game.
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Source-laopinion.com