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The Los Angeles Dodgers are loaded with talent. Their offense is amongst the best in baseball, if not the very best in the MLB. However, their pitching has been described as the weakest link. But this Dodger rotation features stars such as Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw. There is still a very strong chance that the NL Cy Young award winner emerges from Los Angeles. However, there are two reasons why a certain Dodgers' hurler not named Walker Buehler or Clayton Kershaw will win the NL Cy Young award in 2022.
Julio Urias broke onto the scene in 2016 as a 19-year old out of Mexico. The left-hander pitched in 18 games during his rookie season and posted a 3.39 ERA. It was clear that he was kid with a bright future ahead of him. But from 2017-2018, Urias pitched in a total of just 8 big league games. And there were questions about his role in 2019 when he pitched in 37 games, but only made 8 starts.
Was Julio Urias becoming a full-time reliever?
In 2020, Urias returned to the rotation and made 10 starts in 11 total outings. However, the biggest moment of his career came out of the bullpen in 2020, when he recorded the final out of the World Series.
But Julio Urias emerged as a Cy Young caliber starting pitcher for the Dodgers in 2021. The left-hander finished the year with a 2.96 ERA while striking out 195 batters. Additionally, he led the league in wins with 20. His strong performance led to a seventh place finish in NL Cy Young voting.
But is this the year that Julio Urias wins his first Cy Young award?
Without further ado, here are 2 reasons why Julio Urias will win the NL Cy Young in 2022.
The Numbers Don't Lie
Urias enjoyed a tremendous season in 2022. But the numbers suggest he could have been even better.
Opposing hitters posted just a .219 batting average against him. However, they posted a respectable .276 batting average on balls in play. So when Urias surrendered contact, balls were falling in for hits quite a bit. But hitters also posted just a 30.4 hard-hit percentage against Urias. So batters only squared the ball up 30.4 percent of the time, but they were still able to produce a .278 batting average.
Since Urias induces weak contact most of the time, there is a strong chance that opposing hitters will not get as lucky this season. And if he lowers the hard-hit percentage, Urias could be flat-out dominant for the Dodgers in 2022. Batters also only hit line drives against Urias 20.8 percent of the time, and fly balls 29.8 percent of the time. Urias's ground ball rate of 40 percent played a big role in his success.
I understand that is a lot of numbers. To summarize, when batters put the ball in play, they were typically producing ground balls. That is a very good sign that pitchers are keeping the ball down in the zone and hitting their spots.
Urias's strikeout percentage compared to his walk percentage was exceptional. He struck out 26.2 percent of batters while walking just 5.1 percent of hitters.
All of these statistics lead to the second reason why Urias has a strong chance of taking home Cy Young honors in 2022.
Urias is Just Entering His Prime
It is rare that pitchers who have 6 seasons of big league experience under their belt are just 25 years old. But for Julio Urias, that is exactly the case.
Urias is just entering his prime at 25. Most players peak years come between ages 25-32. So he could be in store for even better numbers moving forward.
As good as he is, he isn't even the ace on his team which may also play to his advantage. While opponents are gearing up to face Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler, their gameplans could be lacking when Urias takes the mound.
Dodgers and Julio Urias 2022 Outlook
The Dodgers are not perfect. But one might argue that they are close. Although there are some questions facing them, this is a team built to last through October.
And Julio Urias is primed to win his first NL Cy Young Award.
