A Julio Urias 2016 Topps Now Card - #102

Topps has issued a limited edition Topps Now card.to commemorate Jullio Urias' start last night.  Go here to check it out and order.  They are only available til Sunday afternoon.

Since Urias didn't have a great start I wonder if that will harm the number of cards collectors will order.  I suspect, though, that the ceiling placed on the young left-handed prospect will remain high regardless of the recent results last night.  So, the production numbers should be better than average.

UDDATE:  There are 2,992 copies of this card.

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Blog Kiosk: 5/28/2016 - Dodgers Links - All About Urias

That didn't go as planned.

Julio Urias was thrown to the wolves and got bit.  He lasted just 2.2 innings against the Mets; giving up three runs, five hits and striking out three.  Having given up an uncharacteristic four walks, Urias struggled in every inning he pitched. In fact, many of his pitches were up in the strike zone.  No doubt he was showing signs of nervousness.  Via Ken Gurnick at MLB.com:

"I was," he admitted. "I'm not going to lie, when I went out there, I started thinking of everything I've had to go through to get here. But when I was on the mound, I was able to settle down, be a little more comfortable. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get the results we wanted."

He added further:

"There was a big difference," Urias said of the quality of hitters. "They were looking for specific pitches, and sometimes I tried to fool them and I wasn't able to. Today, it didn't work out, but I'm going to continue to work hard and try to get results."

That was quite an inauspicious beginning for the kid, but I have no doubt he'll have much better outings in the future.  The photo above is via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2016.  Go here to check out more pic by Jon from yesterdays game.  Below are more links to check:

• This Day in Dodgers History: In 2001 Paul LoDuca records six hits in an eleven inning victory over the Rockies at Dodger Stadium.  His feat tied an NL record for hits in an extra-inning affair.  In 2011 several sections in the reserve level at Dodger Stadium are evacuated due to a small fire in an storage area.
• Happy Birthday, Kirk Gibson!

Julio Urias Checklist of his Early Baseball Cards - From 2013 to 2014

Since Julio Urias is on everyone's mind I thought I would take a moment to put together a checklist of Baseball cards for the left-handed phenom.  Below are pics (of the front and reverse) of most of his early Baseball cards.  I focus on cardboard from 2013 and 2014.  I might follow up on this checklist with pics of his cards from 2015 over the weekend, so stay tuned.  As always, there are numerous parallel cards available, but I've done my best to show only the normal base version of each card below.

If I missed anything please let me know. In fact, this listing includes some of his minor league team issued cards, but not likely all of them.  So, if you happen to have a pic available of anything I am missing please pass them along.  I also include a handful of oddball related collectibles.

For a 19-year old kid he sure does have a lot of cardboard available.  His very first officially licensed card is the below 2013 Bowman Sterling autographed card.  Although, it is not his most sought after card.  That is reserved for the always popular Bowman Chrome brand.  Specifically, his 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospect Autograph card.  Those cards in high-grade and as a low-numbered parallel sell for premium dollars.  In fact, the below 2013 Bowman Sterling card is a relative bargain in comparison.

BTW, the below cards are listed in chronological order from their time of release.  The only exceptions are the minor league team issued sets/memorabilia.

2013 Bowman Sterling

Prospect Autograph Insert

#BSAP-JU Julio Urias  

2013 Great Lakes Loons Team Set

 #26 Julio Urias

Blog Kiosk: 5/27/2016 - Dodgers Links - Sandoval, Utley and Julio Urias

I've got that #JulioFever.  So much so, I decided to make a few more Urias fantasy cards last night.  Check them out above.  The photo used on the left is from SportsCenter on twitter, and on the right is a Getty pic grabbed from Last Word on Sports.

It is becoming more clear that the Dodgers youth brigade is coming, and today's surprise starting pitcher is just one of many we should expect in the near future.  How sweet it is that we get to enjoy the fruits of our patience.

Last night Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered several questions from the press corps, and Urias was the main topic.  Fortunately, Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider shares it in total.  Check it out here.  Below is a snippet:

Is this a spot start? Or is Urias in the big-leagues to stay?
We’re going to assess where things are after this start and go from there. We haven’t made any long-term determinations at this point. Obviously, we have to be mindful of his workload for the season. On the one hand, you want to make sure he gets the range he wants. On the other hand, you want to balance the “right now” part of the season with potentially September as well, having as many capable arms as we can have then. So we’re just going to get through tomorrow night and continue to assess it.

I suspect that he will eventually bounce around from AAA and Los Angeles throughout the season; much like how Stripling and Bolsinger are doing that right now.  Heck, he might even spend some time in the bullpen to lessen the number of innings he throws.  BTW, Ken Rosenthal shared some words of wisdom from Zach Greinke on Julio Urias on twitter:

Former #Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke described Julio Urias to me this spring as “the most perfect pitching prospect I’ve ever seen.” 1/2

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 26, 2016

I asked Greinke why. He said: 1. Urias is left-handed. 2. Stuff is plus-plus. 3. “He’s nasty, but not so nasty you think he’ll blow out.”

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 26, 2016

Below are more links to check:

• This Day in Dodger History:  In 1888 fan favorite Adonis Terry pitched his second no-hitter for Brooklyn at Washington Park. 

Welcome to the Blue, Julio Urias! A Boatload of Fantasy Cards

As you no doubt know by now Julio Urias is coming to "The Show" tomorrow.  On the mound he'll be sporting Los Angeles Dodger Blue in that evenings game against the New York Mets, and I think every Dodger fan in the world will be glued to their television set to witness it.  It's the kind of event that will be remembered and spoken about by fans for years to come.  Hopefully, he can rise to the occasion and not get bogged down by unrealistic expectations.

Not that you shouldn't expect the world from him.

Urias has been spectacular since he turned pro just three years ago (at the age of 16).  In fact, today marks the third anniversary of his first professional game. Here's a quote by Urias after that game with the Loons, per Cary Osborne at Dodger Insider:

“With the first couple guys, I was feeling kind of nervous. After that, I was really happy because I was making my debut and things ended up going well for me,” Urias said after the game. “I just wanted to do what (Loons pitching coach Bill Simas) told me. I just wanted to throw strikes and keep the ball down. If you do that, you can pitch in any league.”

On his recent play in the PCL for the Oklahoma City Dodgers Dave Cameron at FanGraphs makes note of how dominating he's been there:

Urias, though, is running a 1.10 ERA/2.89 FIP in his first 41 innings in the PCL (a notorious hitters league), and four of the five runs he’s allowed came in one appearance, back on April 16th. He allowed the fifth run in his next outing on April 22nd, a five inning affair where he gave up just two hits, walked one, and struck out eight. He’s pitched in five games since then, and posted the following line.

2016 Topps Pro Debut - All the Dodgers Insert Cards

Following up on pics of all the Dodgers base cards found in packs of Topps 2016 Pro Debut set, here is a look at the insert cards.  Unfortunately, there are no Dodgers autograph cards available in this set.

Pennant Patches

#PP-GH Grant Holmes                 #PP-JDL Jose De Leon