Dodgers top prospect Julio Urias, 19, will debut Friday vs. Mets

The Los Angeles Dodgersusher in the big league career of their top prospect Friday when left-hander Julio Urias makes his major league debut in New York against the Mets.

The club purchased the contract of Urias, a 19-year-old from Mexico, and added him to both the 40-man and the 25-man active roster. Friday's expected starter, Alex Wood, was scratched with triceps soreness, but the Dodgers are expecting him to return to action Monday at Chicago against the Cubs.

Urias has not only been considered the Dodgers' top prospect, but he has also been hailed as the top overall prospect in baseball. He has not disappointed at Triple-A Oklahoma City, posting a 4-1 record with a 1.10 ERA over eight outings (seven starts). He has thrown 41 innings.

The Mexico native is also in the midst of a 27-inning scoreless streak at Oklahoma City, recording five more scoreless innings in his most recent start on Friday against Salt Lake.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Urias will have a 90-pitch limit against the Mets.

"Julio is really excited," Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations, said Thursday on a conference call.

"I don't think you can say for sure how someone is going to handle the emotions of fulfilling a lifelong dream. All of our guys who have worked with Julio rave about his mound presence and his ability to control his emotions."

Signed as an undrafted free agent in August 2012, Urias already has earned comparisons to another dynamic Dodgers left-hander out of Mexico, Fernando Valenzuela. Urias will make his debut Friday in front of Valenzuela, who is a member of the team's Spanish-language broadcast team.

Even before the season started, Urias had held opponents to a .219 batting average in three previous seasons in the organization. He now has a 1.08 WHIP and has struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings, including his numbers this season.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.