Julio Urias’ strikeout in the top of the 9th inning in game 6 of the 2020 World Series helped the Dodgers lift the trophy for the first time since 1988. He and Clayton Kershaw are two top arms in the Dodgers rotation. Clayton Kershaw made his MLB debut in 2008 when he was 20 years old. Urias made it into the big league in 2016 and he was only 19. Two pitchers were top prospects and were expected to be stars when they were in the Dodgers farm system. But their career paths so far are not exactly as expected.
Clayton Kershaw tossed 122 innings in the minors in 2007 when he was 19. He threw 163 strikeouts but he also gave up 67 walks.
Julio Urias made his MLB debut in May 2016. In the 2016 season, Urias was only 19 years old and he tossed 77 innings in his first year as a Dodger. Julio Urias threw 84 strikeouts and gave up 31 walks. Hitter batted .274 against him. Meanwhile, Urias pitched two games in the 2016 playoffs, including one start against the Chicago Cubs. It wasn’t a perfect start for Urias’ career, but it seemed that Dodgers believed that Urias could be a very good pitcher. Fans might also think of another great pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who made his MLB debut at 19 and is from Mexico as well.
If we only look at Kershaw’s and Urias’ stats at age 19, Urias will surely draw more attention since he already pitched in the MLB.
Clayton Kershaw was called up on May, 25 2008. In that season, Kershaw already pitched more than 100 innings. He threw 100 strikeouts in his rookie season, but he gave up 52 walks. His ERA was over 4 and his WHIP was 1.50. Kershaw also made two relief appearances against the Phillies in the 2008 NLCS.
Julio Urias’ second season in the majors didn’t go well. He underwent shoulder surgery in June. In 2017, Urias only tossed 23.1 innings.
At 21, Kershaw made 30 starts for the Dodgers. He tossed 171 innings and struck out 185 times, but he gave up 91 walks. His ERA was 2.79. Kershaw still couldn’t pitch effectively then, however, he pitched better than he did in his rookie season. Kershaw made 2 starts and 1 relief appearance in the 2009 playoffs, unfortunately he gave up 9 runs.
Nonetheless, Urias only pitched 4 innings in 2018. At age 21, Urias had to stay patient to recover from surgery. But, Urias made 7 relief appearances in the 2018 playoffs, striking out 5 batters in 6.1 innings.
When 22 turned 22, he pitched more effectively than he did at age 21. Kershaw tossed more than 200 innings during the regular season and he threw 212 strikeouts. His WHIP dropped to 1.18 and his ERA remained below 3.00.
Recovering from shoulder surgery, Urias threw nearly 80 innings in 2019 and had 85 strikeouts. He posted a WHIP of 1.08 and an ERA of 2.49.
At age 22, Urias and Kershaw both had solid numbers to prove that they were good pitchers. However, Urias did not pitch well in the postseason. He gave up 3 runs in 3.2 innings against the Nationals in the 2019 NLDS.
Kershaw won his first Cy Young award when he was 23 years old. He earned 21 wins in 2011. His ERA was below 3 again and his WHIP dropped to 0.98. He was selected to the All-Star game for the first time in his career. Since then, you can probably say that he’s the best pitcher in the majors. But, the Dodgers failed to clinch a playoff berth in 2011.
Urias had a good season last year. In the shortened 2020 season, Urias tossed 55 innings and posted a 3.27 ERA. In particular, he made 2 starts and 4 relief appearances in the 2020 playoffs. His ERA was only 1.17 and he had a WHIP of 0.65.
At age 23, Kershaw became an All-Star and won his first Cy Young award. However, Kershaw only pitched 5 games in the postseason when he was 23. Compared to Kershaw, Urias already underwent surgeries several times when he was 23 years old and he hasn’t been selected to the All-Star game. Nonetheless, Urias turned 24 last August and already made 18 playoff appearances. Their career paths are truly different. It might not be easy for Urias to win as many Cy Young awards as Kershaw already has. Of course, it’s really hard. So far, there are only 10 pitchers who won at least 3 Cy Young awards. Nevertheless, if they stay healthy, they are two dominant pitchers in the Dodgers rotation and Urias will be an All-Star sooner or later.
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