Rodrigo Lopez spent 11 years within the huge leagues, pitching for the Padres, Orioles, Rockies, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Cubs from 2000-12. He’s now the overall supervisor of Crew Mexico for the World Baseball Traditional, and he mentioned one thing fairly noteworthy to MLB insider Jon Morosi about Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias.
When roster invites went out, López mentioned, Urías “was one of many first to lift his hand.”
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There aren’t actually official “captains” on WBC groups, however Urias is definitely essentially the most achieved pitcher on the group, having completed seventh and third within the Cy Younger voting the final two years. There are different stars or semi-stars on the group, together with Alejandro Kirk, Randy Arozarena, and Alex Verdugo, however Urias is sensible because the group chief.
Julio has talked about how a lot it means for him to play for Crew Mexico, saying:
“It’s going to be a really particular factor for me, a really particular second for everyone, to symbolize Crew Mexico. Mexico is all the things for me, to have the ability to symbolize the nation and my group. … Even right here, after we play at Dodger Stadium, I really feel prefer it’s part of little Mexico once I come out and pitch amongst all my followers out right here. … [My family] are all very excited, they’ve seen me put on the Crew Mexico jersey once I was a baby, however now they’re going to see me put on it professionally and so they’re all very excited for me.”
It’s typically onerous to consider Urias remains to be solely 26 years previous. He’s been within the huge leagues for seven years, lastly coming into his personal the final two years and establishing himself as a real ace. He led the Nationwide League with a 2.16 ERA in 2022, the primary Mexican-born pitcher ever to win an ERA title.
Crew Mexico’s WBC expertise kicks off at Chase Area in Phoenix on March 11, and so they play Crew USA on March 12. Colombia, Nice Britain, and Freddie Freeman’s Canada group are the opposite nations within the pool with Crew USA and Crew Mexico.
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