Dodgers: Julio Urias Gets Pulled Under Questionable Circumstances

Manager Dave Roberts pulled Julio Urías after just 65 pitches in Tuesday's nights game against the Giants.

The Dodgers and Giants renewed their rivalry on Tuesday. San Francisco is in town for a two game set that concludes tonight. Although the Giants entered the series as one of the best offensive teams in baseball, Dodgers starter Julio Urías threw six scoreless innings.

Urías needed just 65 pitches to complete six frames. Typically, when a is throwing a shutout with that type of pitch count, they've earned the right to stay on the mound. But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not your typical manager. Roberts decided to pull Urías in favor of Brusdar Graterol for the seventh inning.

Graterol yielded one run to shave the Dodgers lead down to just one run. LA would end up winning 3-1, but naturally, Roberts had some explaining to do after the game as to why he pulled his Cy Young caliber lefty starter.

“I thought the stuff was good, but I thought they were taking some good swings off him.There was some hard contact [the innings before]. I felt that part of the lineup again, just to give them a different look.”

Urías scattered four hits, struck out four, and did not allow a walk. By all accounts, Julio was in complete control of the game. The velocity appeared to be dipping, but the conventional wisdom would have been to at least monitor Julio on a batter-by-batter basis. 

The season is young, but Dodgers fans have already seen Roberts pull Clayton Kershaw seven innings into a perfect game, allow Walker Buehler to throw a 108-pitch complete game shutout, and now, yank Urías 65 pitches into a shutout of his own.

Doc is a good manager who's earned some autonomy, but second guessing Roberts is a preferred pastime of Dodgers fans.

Whether he likes it or not, Dave Roberts keeps giving fans ammunition to continue questioning his each and every move. Especially when it comes to handling his starting pitching.