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The Dodgers released their NLCS roster Friday morning and the only change from the NLDS is switching out Scott Alexander for Julio Urías. It’s a surprise move, given that Urias has gone only 15 2⁄3 innings over 11 appearances across all levels this season.
The left-hander spent most of the season rehabilitating his shoulder after having season-ending surgery last June. Since being recalled in September, Urías has made three appearances that totaled four innings at the major league level.
Here is the #Dodgers’ 25-man roster for the NLCS. pic.twitter.com/FD2Bqxu6l7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 12, 2018
It’s unclear how many games the Dodgers will use him for in this series due to the light workload over the past two months. The appeal is obvious but we addressed the pros and cons of Urías making a postseason roster last month.
During his minor league rehab in Triple-A, Urias had a stretch of 3-5 batter relief outings, pitching on 3 days rest, then 2 days, 2 days, & 2 days.
— Eric Stephen (@ericstephen) October 12, 2018
He retired 12 of 13 batters faced in MLB in September, with 7 strikeouts. But those were zero leverage & with 5, 7 and 6 days rest
Alexander made only one appearance in the NLDS, tossing a perfect eighth inning in a Game 3 loss in Atlanta. The lefty appeared in 25 games, allowing 11 runs (10 earned) in 18 innings over the final two months of the season for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers and Brewers will play Game 1 Friday night at 5:09 p.m. PT on FS1.