"Starting this series right" "The Torch has been officially passed" - Los Angeles Dodgers fans pumped up as Julio Urias was officially selected to start Game 1 of the NLDS

Julio Urias will start in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres, as confirmed by Los Angeles Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts. The lefty has had a spectacular 2022 season and carries a 17-7 record with an ERA of 2.16 and 166 strikeouts across 171 innings.

Urias has endeared himself to the Dodger faithful, especially over the past few years. In 2021, he was the only pitcher in the majors to record at least 20 wins. He has stepped up to the role of an ace this year, especially when the legendary Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler were shelved due to injuries.

Several fans of the team were certainly thrilled with the news, with one writing on Twitter:

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has named Clayton Kershaw as the starter for Game 2. The skipper indicated that it was a toss-up between the two prolific lefties. However, the choice was made to start Urias in Game 1 due to him being able to come off the bullpen in the postseason.

The coaching staff also considered Kershaw's injury setbacks this year and want to preserve him in case the team reaches the NLCS.

Across four starts against the Padres this year, Urias has posted a 3-0 win-loss tally and a 1.50 ERA with 18 strikeouts.

Los Angeles Dodgers' utter dominance against the San Diego Padres

To say that the Los Angeles Dodgers have the San Diego Padres' number will be an understatement. In 19 meetings this season, the Blue Crew have 14 wins over the Friars.

San Diego has always been treated as the runner-up and inferior team in the National League West among the California teams. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have largely dominated the past decade, with the San Francisco Giants showing up every once in a while.

In 53 years of matching up against each other, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres have only clashed once in the postseason. It came in the 2020 National League Division Series, where the Dodgers utterly overwhelmed the Padres and swept them 3-0.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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"Starting this series right", "The Torch has been officially passed" - Los Angeles Dodgers fans pumped up as Julio Urias was officially selected to start Game 1 of the NLDS

Los Angeles Dodgers' utter dominance against the San Diego Padres