A day after the team placed Noah Syndergaard on the injured list, manager Dave Roberts announced Friday that Julio Urías won’t be back this weekend from a left hamstring strain as expected, a setback that could leave the club juggling a four-man rotation for the next few weeks.
“He’s going to keep throwing,” Roberts said of Urías, who was originally slated to start Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. “But I think when he tries to ramp up the intensity is when he sort of feels the tightness in the hamstring.”
Urías’ return was supposed to be a stabilizing force for a Dodgers rotation that is already without Dustin May, ranks 15th in the majors in earned-run average and has been relying on a rotating cast of rookies in recent weeks to fill Urías’ void.
It hasn’t made for an easy existence.
In Friday’s series opener against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, the Dodgers used left-handed reliever Victor González as an opener in front of rookie right-hander Michael Grove, protecting the 26-year-old from the Phillies’ left-handed-heavy top of the batting order.
Another rookie, Bobby Miller, is scheduled to make his fourth career start Saturday, the third time he has faced a star-studded opponent that was in the playoffs last year.
Though Clayton Kershaw has shook off a bad performance in May with two consecutive gems in June, the Dodgers’ other veteran starter, Tony Gonsolin, has yet to rediscover the heights of his All-Star campaign from a season ago.
Amid that backdrop, getting back Urías — who might not have been pitching great before his hamstring injury, beginning the season 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 10 starts, but was still expected to be the Dodgers ace this year — would have been a boon.
However, after feeling some discomfort during a bullpen session Thursday, Urías will now miss at least another week or two, Roberts said, with this latest setback likely requiring the left-hander to go on a minor league rehab stint in order to come back.
“He wasn’t overly confident in where that hamstring was at, to take on a start,” Roberts said. “So we all decided to put a pin in it, go back to tempering back a little bit and not put a date on when he’s going to return.”
For Sunday, the Dodgers are planning a bullpen game. After that, they haven’t decided how they will work around Urías’ extended absence.
Their minor league pitching depth is thin, especially with Gavin Stone a non-option at the moment, according to Roberts, after his recent struggles.
With four off days this month, Roberts said the Dodgers could try to proceed with a four-man rotation until Urías is ready.
“Given the off days, I think we potentially could manage it,” Roberts said. “I think where we stand, we’ll be OK.”
Still, this is far from the spot the Dodgers were hoping to find themselves at this juncture of the season.
Their pitching staff had already been a problem; a lack of depth on the mound a growing concern.
Now, they’ll have to navigate a little bit longer without their Cy Young Award finalist from last season.