Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — In another great “get” for the World Baseball Classic, it was announced on Wednesday that the Dodgers’ ace lefty Julio Urias would be representing his beloved Mexico in the World Baseball Classic.
The move is not exactly a shock. Urías is probably the Mexican player with the highest profile right now in all of major league baseball. Having closed out the World Series in 2020, Urías has just gotten better in the last two seasons. In 2021, he won a league-leading 20 games and finished 7th in the Cy Young voting in the National League. And this year, a strong argument could be made that he has been the best (certainly the most consistent) pitcher in all baseball.
With 26 starts under his belt, Urías is 15-7 with a league-leading 2.29 ERA. That, mis amigos, is elite. While four Dodgers have already committed to the WBC (Betts, Smith, and Trea for USA, Freddie for Canada), Urías is the first pitcher to make that commitment. It was thought that it might be difficult to lure pitchers to play given the limitations that would still be on their innings in March of next year. But with Urías committing, it looks like at least some high-caliber talent is all in.
Through a translator, Julio said it’s a dream come true to play for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic and said his family is very excited for him.
Team Mexico will play out of the same group in the first round as Team USA and Team Canada, so it should make for some good-natured ribbing around Camelback Ranch next spring. Bienvenidos, Julio. Vamanos!
