Dodgers' Julio Urias: Could begin in minors

Urias might be sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City for the beginning of the season in an effort to keep his inning count low, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.

Manager Dave Roberts said that they don't want to utilize the top prospect out of the bullpen, according to Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times, which would mean stashing him on the bench if they wanted to limit his starts at any point during the season. The Dodgers see this as the best alternative at this point so that they can have Urias available at the end of the season and hypothetically the postseason. Los Angeles has a plethora of arms competing for the final couple rotation spots (Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Scott Kazmir), and optioning Urias back to the minors would allow them to keep more of the veterans on the roster at first while giving their youngster a bit more time to develop against advanced hitters. This decision certainly isn't final, but it's worth keeping an eye on over the next few weeks.