The Los Angeles Dodgers don't exactly have an ideal situation with their starting rotation heading into 2016. However, a promising spring training debut from Japanese right-hander Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias' great potential could be of enormous help.
Los Angeles didn't have the greatest of offseasons. Zack Greinke departed in free agency; Brett Anderson is expected to miss half the season after back surgery; Brandon McCarthy isn't expected to return until the middle of the year as he recovers from Tommy John surgery; Hyun-Jin Ryu's timetable for return following shoulder surgery has been pushed back due to soreness in the area; and Alex Wood was scratched from his most recent start due to forearm tightness.
The additions of Maeda and Scott Kazmir could now prove to be their saving grace due to all the happenings in the past few months.
Maeda, who signed an eight-year, $25 million contract (which can escalate to over $105 million due to incentives), has tossed five scoreless innings this spring in two starts with the Dodgers. He's allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out five. There were red flags regarding the right-hander's elbow, so that's why the Dodgers inked him to such a complicated deal.
Nonetheless, if his skills translate at the MLB level, then the Dodgers will be in excellent shape. The 27-year-old spent eight seasons in Japan and finished 97-67 with a 2.39 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 1,233 strikeouts in 218 games (1,509-2/3 innings).
Now, Urias' spring debut wasn't nearly as impressive as Maeda's, but the 19-year-old still managed to turn some heads in his second spring training with the Dodgers. He appeared in one game last year, but he'll be making more starts than that this time around.
The left-hander struck out the side in his first spring inning against the Los Angeles Angels last week. His fastball sat between 92-97 mph and his slider looked sharp, but his second inning didn't go so well. Urias charged with three earned runs on three hits and a walk in that frame.
However, manager Dave Roberts was impressed with his performance in the first inning and did not rule out the possibility of the left-hander taking over the No. 5 spot in the rotation to start the season.
"If he's throwing well enough and we feel good enough for him to be in that spot, it's realistic," he said.
With the way things have been going for the Dodgers, it's certainly a possibility that Urias makes his MLB debut early on (depending on how the rest of his starts unfold). The top pitching prospect in baseball owns a 2.91 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 264 strikeouts in 61 career minor league games (222-1/3 innings).
He dominated Double-A before struggling in two starts at Triple-A, so he'll need to replicate his first inning of the spring a few more times if he wants a legitimate shot to make the Opening Day roster.
