Julio Urias : Eye | Stats | What happened to eye

Julio Urias underwent three surgeries on his left eye during his youth to remove a benign mass. As a result, his left eye is nearly closed.

Julio Urias : Eye | Stats | What happened to eye

Nicknamed “El Culichi”, is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Dodgers signed him in 2012, and he made his MLB debut in 2016.

Urías made his professional debut on May 25, 2013, for the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League as the youngest player in the league, striking out six batters over three shutout innings.

He made a total of 18 starts and finished the season 2–0 with a 2.48 ERA, recording 67 strikeouts in 54.1 innings.

Julio Urias eye

Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias will be sidelined for a month after undergoing cosmetic surgery on his left eye, according to MLB.com.

MLB.com’s No. 8 prospect will undergo the procedure — periorbital benign mass removal — on May 28. He’s expected to resume baseball activities in June and be back to game action before July.

“He deserves this level of support and we are thrilled to give it to him,” director of player development Gabe Kapler told MLB.com.

Urias has had three prior operations on his left eye to address a benign mass. Urias told the L.A. Times this spring that can see through the eye, though it appears nearly closed at all times.

“That’s how god works,” Urias told the Times. “He gave me a bad left eye but a good left arm.”

The 18-year-old has emerged as one of baseball’s most promising pitching prospects and has dominated as the youngest player in the Double-A Texas League this year. In seven starts with Tulsa, Urias is 1-2 with a 3.00 ERA. He’s struck out 46 batters and walked just nine over 36 innings.

Urias throws a fastball that runs up to 98 mph and earns raves for his changeup and breaking ball.

Stats

Urías was selected to play for the World team at the 2014 All-Star Futures Game and was selected as the Dodgers organizational “Minor League Pitcher of the Year” for 2014.

He received an invitation to attend the team’s 2015 major league spring training camp.

Urías was ranked by MLBpipeline.com as the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball entering the 2015 season. MLB.com ranked him the 8th-best prospect in baseball, and Baseball America named him the #10 prospect in 2015.

The Dodgers assigned him to the AA Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League to start the 2015 season. He was 3–4 with a 2.77 ERA in 13 starts for Tulsa.

Urias was promoted to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers on August 31, 2015. He struggled in his first AAA action, allowing nine runs in 4+1⁄3 innings over two starts.

Urías signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Dodgers for 2022, in his second season of salary arbitration.

Continuing on his excellent form from the previous season, Urías kept his place on the Dodgers starting rotation. Despite owning a 3–4 record at the end of May after 10 starts, he compiled a solid 2.89 ERA, 42 strikeouts, and only 12 walks in that span.

For the season, Urías finished 17–7 with 166 strikeouts and led the National League in ERA with 2.16.

What happened to eye 

Julio was diagnosed with a periorbital benign mass which had to be removed 4 times from when he was a child up until May 2015.

Julio underwent a number of other eye procedures at a very young age, which was documented in Jorge Castillo’s feature in the LA Times.

Also Julio said in that story that Mexican fans in San Diego teased him by making jokes about his left eye, but the left-hander knew how to respond without taking that too personally.

He underwent 3 surgeries on his left eye when he was very young to remove a benign mass. So, his left eye is nearly closed, but Julio can see through it.

When asked about his eye condition, Julio, who is a devout Roman Catholic, simply said, “That’s how God works. He gave me a bad left eye but a good left arm. “He had elective surgery on May 19, 2015, to correct the condition.