Julio Urias’ velocity becoming concern for Dodgers?

The Los Angeles Dodgers overextended Julio Urias in last year’s postseason, and the early returns on Urias this spring are not too encouraging either.

The Dodgers left-hander had a rough outing against the Los Angeles Angels in Cactus League play Monday. Urias got knocked around for five earned runs on six hits and three walks in just two innings pitched.

Velocity numbers from the game also painted a concerning picture for Urias. Dodgers writer Josh Thomas noted that Urias had an average fastball speed of 91.6 miles per hour, which was lower than any regular season outing in Urias’ entire six-year MLB career.

Julio Urías’ fastball averaged 91.6 mph tonight, lower than any regular season outing of his career. The last time his avg FB velo was sub-92 was August 27th, 2016 😬

— Josh Thomas (@jokeylocomotive) April 5, 2022

Urias did however address a question about his velocity after the game by saying that he felt healthy and strong.

Julio Urías on tonight’s start (2 IP, 6 hits, 5 ER, 3 walks): “Felt healthy, felt strong mentally. Obviously, results didn’t show tonight.”

I asked him later about his diminished fastball velocity — he said “it’s all good, physically and mentally strong.” pic.twitter.com/qLN7dbF84c

— Luca Evans (@bylucaevans) April 5, 2022

The 25-year-old Urias was a full-time starter for the first time last year and led baseball with 20 wins in a career-high 185.2 innings pitched. He will be relied on more heavily in 2022 with Max Scherzer no longer in town and Trevor Bauer also looking very unlikely to return (though the Dodgers will be getting back Clayton Kershaw, who was injured for the 2021 playoffs).

According to Fangraphs, Urias has averaged 94.1 miles per hour on his fastball over his career. That makes his roughly 2.5 mph dip this week look pretty drastic. Hopefully, though, it was just an anomaly for Urias, especially with the Dodgers under fire recently for the handling of their pitching staff.

Photo: Oct 20, 2021; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias (7) returns to the dugout after the second inning against the Atlanta Braves during game four of the 2021 NLCS at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports