Dodgers News: Julio Urias Successfully Undergoes Eye Surgery

After having three surgeries as a child to remove a benign mass in his left eye, Julio Urias was left with a droopy eyelid. After initially saying he was comfortable with the eye, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ No. 2 prospect (according to BaseballProspectus.com) recently chose to undergo cosmetic surgery to fix the effects of previous operations.

Urias pitched in just seven games before electing for surgery that’s expected to keep him sidelined for one month. According to Bill Plunkett of the OC Register, Urias is now recovering:

Top pitching prospect Julio Urias underwent surgery to remove a benign mass from his left eye last Thursday as scheduled. Urias is rehabbing at the Dodgers’ training complex in Arizona.”

Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler said Urias has been in good spirits since the surgery:

He looks great. He’s feeling good about it,” Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler said. “His eye is swollen so he’s been telling the other players that’s because he just fought Julio Cesar Chavez or Manny Pacquiao.”

Urias does make a good argument, as he does look like he has just finished a boxing match in an image he sent out from his Twitter account:

1 semana mas y estamos de regreso??.. #Thanksgod! pic.twitter.com/oYUhhGx286

— Julio Urias (@theteenager7) June 4, 2015

Since his surgery was purely for cosmetic purposes, it shouldn’t long before the left-hander is back in a game. However, reports indicate he must wait five to seven days before he can get his stitches removed and he’s not allowed to throw until then. Urias is expected to begin a throwing program once stitches are removed.

Perhaps Urias’s greatest bright spot through his 2015 season in Double-A is his WHIP, which currently stands at a career best 0.94. He began pitching for the Dodgers as a 16 year old in 2013 with Low-A Great Lakes and finished the season with a 2.48 ERA.

The Dodgers have been mindful of bringing their prized pitcher along slowly, monitoring and limiting his innings in each of the last two season and again thus far in 2015. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pointed to the surgery as another means of keeping the restraints on Urias, and more interestingly, didn’t rule out a September call-up for the young lefty.

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