As trade rumors swirl around veteran starters, rookie Walbert Urena’s elite velocity and dominant metrics position the young right-hander to anchor the Halos' rotation through the stretch run.
The Los Angeles Angels’ starting rotation may look drastically different once the trade deadline passes in less than a couple of weeks, but even if they decide to sell high on Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano, they can be comfortable in the fact that they’ll have a young arm ready to take over the No. 1 spot.
Soriano and Detmers may be finding themselves in all of the headlines with the August 3 deadline approaching fast, but rookie Walbert Urena has been an unsung hero for the Halos in what has otherwise been mostly a disastrous season.
Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly published an article on Thursday listing 10 breakout candidates for the second half of the season, and the rookie right-hander earned his spot on the list after his emergence in his first 18 appearances.
The 2021 international signee made his major league debut out of the bullpen in March, and after one more relief appearance, he’s been a mainstay in the Angels’ rotation ever since. On the year, Urena has posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.31 WHIP across 87 ⅓ innings.
Since the start of May, Urena has only allowed three or more runs in three starts, all of which took place in June. Since July, however, Urena has found his groove once again, recording a 1.15 ERA across his three starts.
The 22-year-old ranks near the top of the league in nearly every pitching metric on his Baseball Savant page. In the 99th percentile for offspeed run value, 93rd percentile in ground-ball percentage, 89th percentile in expected batting average, and 92nd percentile in fastball velocity, Urena has shown major flashes of dominance on a major league mound.
Naming him as a breakout candidate for the second half seems a bit easy considering he already broke out onto the scene in the first half of the season, but with Detmers and Soriano perhaps being shipped out, Urena’s arm will become even more vital.
Though the Halos aren’t competing for the postseason, finishing off the season at this level would be huge for Urena and the Angels as they look for a permanent general manager to finally focus on their future. Undoubtedly, Urena has established himself as a key piece of said future.
