When Julius Caesar Uries was coming up the Dodgers system in the middle of the last decade, it was natural for comparisons to be made between him and Los Angeles team legend Fernando Valenzuela.
Both are left-handed. Both grew up in small premises attached to larger cities in Mexico –Valenzuela in Etchohuaquila, Navojoa, Sonora and Uries in La Higuerita, Culiacán, Sinaloa. And both were signed by the Dodgers by the famous Cuban scout Mike Brito.
And of course, the two showed special talent on the mound.
In his time in the minor leagues, Uries was given the subject of comparison with Valenzuela an endless number of times, such as in January 2016, when he participated in the rookie orientation program organized by MLB and the Players Association.
“Whenever they interview me they ask me that,” Uries commented at the time. “I try to do my job, what I can do. I don’t try to do too much.”
In fact, the trajectories with the Dodgers of both pitchers – who have had little contact lately due to the pandemic, according to Valenzuela – have been very different. In this 40th anniversary of the “Fernandomanía”, we have revived the way in which Valenzuela amazed the world of baseball with his historic start to his career in 1981, the year of his season of the Cy Young Award, Novice of the Year and World Series Champion.
Uries, on the other hand, had many ups and downs after his Major League debut in May 2016, due to several injuries and a suspension related to MLB’s domestic violence policy. It was not until last year and, above all, the post-season of the year 2020, that the Sinaloa began to show all his talent in the most important moments, which culminated with brilliant closings of both the Series of National League Championship as the decisive game of the World Series, within the conquest of the Dodgers of its first title since 1988.
“July has improved quite a bit when given the opportunity,” said Valenzuela, who now evaluates his compatriot’s work as a commentator on the Dodgers’ Spanish-language radio broadcasts. “I think talent has always had it. Now he has a chance to do his job and he’s done well enough, also last year in the playoffs. Talent has always been here.”
Early in his career, both in the minor leagues and in his early days with the big Los Angeles team, Uries was treated very carefully by the Dodgers. Club manager Dave Roberts acknowledged in October 2020 that at times, the “culichi” was somewhat upset to change so much role in the mound body.
However, Uries is now set to do the kind of work of a full-time opener on a rotation that aims to take the Dodgers to another championship. At 24, the left-hander looks more mature and even a new pitching, a combination of slider-curve (slurve) to accompany his traditional repertoire of four-seam straight, shift and curve.
“There’s no roof for him,” said Roberts, who on Saturday in Los Angeles ’win over the Nationals allowed Uries to make 95 pitches.
“My mindset is to put my grit and contribute something to the team,” Uries said Saturday, after allowing three clean runs in 5.2 innings against Washington to put his 2021 mark at 2 -0 in two openings, in which it has allowed four clean races (effectiveness of 2.84) and has struck to 12 batters in a total of 12.2 episodes.
Of course, Uries established himself as a hero in Dodgers history with his brilliant 2020 postseason. Last October, he pitched in six games – 2 p.m. as opener-four from the bullpen – in which he conceded just three clean runs in 25 innings (EFE 1.17), struck out 29 batters and gave only four bases per ball. In those games, he held a 4-0 record and brilliantly closed out his postseason by throwing 2.1 perfect innings to seal Los Angeles ’victory in Game 6 of the World Series, in which the Dodgers celebrated their first crown in 32 years.
“I think it’s important, from a player’s point of view, to have this opportunity to prove what he has. In this World Series, he proved that,” said Valenzuela, the only champion ring achieved in that 1981 with the Dodgers, thanks in part to his iconic full game in the third clash of the World Series vs. the Yankees. “I think he can go on. He has a lot more. He’s young and he has the talent to keep doing things right.”
And with the Fernandomanía celebrations this year, questions about comparisons with Valenzuela have returned.
“Load doesn’t have to be,” Uries expressed in this regard. “That, no one is going to take it out. Well cattle, the truth, my respects. He’s the best Mexican pitcher we have. Just being on the team where he had so much satisfaction and did so much for this team, I feel blessed. I just try to give 100% of myself and put in my own numbers. “
After a certain dose of stumbling in his early years, Uries seems to be headed for the same.