Urias turns around, heads back to Dodgers

It's been an up-and-down week for Julio Urias.

Four days after getting his first taste of the Majors -- and two after being sent back to Triple-A Oklahoma City -- MLB.com's No. 2 prospect is returning to the bigs.

The Dodgers recalled their top prospect Tuesday after placing starting pitcher Alex Wood on the 15-day disabled list with left posterior elbow soreness. Urias sported a 1.10 ERA in 41 innings with Oklahoma City before his promotion on May 26.

The 19-year-old was roughed up by the Mets in his Major League debut Friday at Citi Field. The left-hander was tagged for three runs on five hits while striking out three over 2 2/3 innings. He was pulled after 81 pitches.

Urias had shown impeccable control at Triple-A, walking eight batters over his 41 innings with 5.5 strikeouts for every free pass. The Mexican native walked four in New York and threw 42 of his 81 pitches for strikes in his highly anticipated debut.

"There was a big difference," Urias told MiLB.com about pitching in the Majors. "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."

It wasn't the first time Urias faced adversity. The 6-foot, 215-pound hurler allowed nine runs on 11 hits and six walks in 4 1/3 innings in a two-start audition with Oklahoma City at the end of the 2015 season. He bounced back from that with six scoreless outings in eight starts this year, and Dodgers Minor League pitching coordinator Rick Knapp credited his ability to harness his emotions.

"Julio got his brains bashed in at Triple-A last year," said Knapp. "Some guys don't recover from that. He did. He has the fortitude, the stick-to-itiveness to move on from that ... One other big hurdle he had to overcome was controlling his emotions -- not getting too high, too low or too rattled. He's overcome that pretty certainly."

While his first Major League appearance was a spot start, Urias should get multiple opportunities to prove he can stick in Los Angeles this time around. Rest assured, he won't be satisfied just being a big leaguer.

"My goal is to get to the Majors, but it's not the end goal," he told MiLB.com after throwing six hitless innings on May 4. "I still want to do better and I'm thankful that people see me this way right now. I still want improvement, I want to get better and I plan every day on getting better any way I can."

If he takes Wood's spot in the rotation, Urias would line up to start June 4 against the Braves at Dodger Stadium.