The Los Angeles Dodgers placed SP Julio Urias on the 15-day IL with a hamstring strain on Saturday. Fortunately, the “initial hope” is that Urias will be able to immediately return once his 15 days are up on the injured list, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. In other words, the Dodgers don't appear to be too worried about the injury. Nevertheless, an IL stint was seemingly necessary.

Urias, fresh off a 2022 season that saw him finish as an NL Cy Young finalist, has struggled in 2023. He's endured a few very uncharacteristically bad starts where he was unable to properly locate his pitches. Although he's enjoyed a number of impressive starts as well, those blowup outings have led to his season numbers looking rather underwhelming.

Overall, the Dodgers' left-hander owns a 4.39 ERA and 1.157 WHIP in 2023. He's recorded 53 strikeouts along with 11 walks. Again, he hasn't been consistently underwhelming. But Urias has not been able to minimize the damage in starts where he hasn't featured his best stuff. The Dodgers are likely hoping that this time on the injured list will help him reset and begin pitching like the Cy Young-caliber pitcher he was in 2022.

The Dodgers are still one of the best teams in baseball, but their starting rotation is currently hampered by injuries. In addition to Urias, Dustin May was recently placed on the IL. Additionally, young pitchers Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove have both dealt with injuries, while Walker Buehler remains on the injured list.

The Dodgers will need to implement a complete team effort over the next few weeks amid their starting pitching uncertainty. The good news is that Los Angeles excels in that regard.

We will provide updates on Julio Urias' status as they are made available.