Dave Roberts and the Los Angeles Dodgers play the San Diego Padres on Tuesday to start their MLB playoffs campaign. Sure enough, after a bye through the Wild Card round, they already have a concrete pitching plan for the NLDS.
According to Roberts, they will have Julio Urias start Game 1 on Tuesday. For the Game 2 slated on Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw will then take over as the starting pitcher, per Juan Toribio of MLB.com.
“I think for us you could essentially flip a coin. They're both (Urías and Kershaw) aces in our eyes. I think that Julio has been fantastic for us all year. Kind of just making that decision to give him that opportunity, we all felt good about it,” Roberts said on Urias starting in their NLDS opener, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
This is not a surprising decision, to say the least, especially since the Dodgers have a talented bunch in the bullpen.
Julio Urias is a contender for the National League Cy Young award, finishing the season at the top of the NL ERA leaderboard with his 2.16 mark. It is also worth nothing that he went 3-0 in four starts against the Padres this 2022, recording a 1.50 ERA with 18 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, everyone knows what Clayton Kershaw is capable of. He is a battle-tested veteran who continues to dominate even at age 34. He is 12-3 on the season and finished the campaign with a 2.28 ERA.
The Padres will be difficult opponents for the Dodgers with Juan Soto leading the way. A phenomenal performance from Joe Musgrove in their do-or-die clash with the New York Mets should have also given them a massive confidence boost heading to the showdown. However, there is a reason LA was one of the top teams this 2022.
With Urias and Kershaw taking the mound for Games 1 and 2, respectively, it is clear the Dodgers are eyeing for a hot start to the NLDS this MLB playoffs.
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