Decision on Urías failed for Dodgers

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers asked too much of Julio Urías by sending him to the mound for the fourth time in 12 days.

Although the Mexican was the only pitcher to achieve 20 major league victories this season, he has been employed by Los Angeles in three different roles in just the last week.

Both Urías and the Dodgers have emphasized that these missions are not that challenging. But the southpaw looked totally off-beat and far from his usual precision in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves.

“I felt good physically,” Urías said after Wednesday’s 9-2 loss. “You just have to give them credit for what they did today.”

By the time Urías left the mound with a five-run deficit, it was clear that the demand had been unconscionable, and that the Dodgers are not getting what they expect from their top pitchers in a rotation that looks like chaos.

The Dodgers leadership is flouting much of baseball’s traditional rules during October in an attempt to get the most out of its pitching staff.

And now that the champions of the last World Series are on the verge of elimination, it is clear that those decisions have not worked out as their boss Andrew Friedman expected.

Both Urías and Max Scherzer struggled in the Championship Series when they were asked to start with just two days rest after pitching as relievers. Walker Buehler also did not reach his usual level with additional rest.

And now, the Braves hold a 3-1 lead over the Dodgers for the second time in a row in a Championship Series. They will have three opportunities to install themselves in the October Classic.

Roberts denied that the disruption of Uriah’s duties and breaks caused his problems.

“There is a potential cost,” he admitted however about using a starter as a reliever. “I think nobody knows … For me, the important thing is to talk with the player, with the pitchers and see what we have.”

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