Q&A: Fifteen hot topics with Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías

He’s no longer a teenager, but doesn’t quite feel like an adult. “When I’m 21, I’ll feel older,” Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías says with a smile. His Aug. 12 birthday is still three months away.

Considered the Dodgers’ top prospect for the past two years, Urías, 20, was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City last week. He will remain with the team for the foreseeable future.

Last season, Urías became the youngest current player in Major League Baseball at 19 years old and the youngest Dodgers starting pitcher since Dick Calmus on Aug. 23, 1963.

A season later and a year older, Urías is still the youngest player in the big leagues. And for his part, Urías seems every bit of a typical twentysomething. The Culiacan, Mexico, native loves Instagram and Twitter, where he continues to embrace his youth under the handle “TheTeenager7.” He enjoys listening to music, wants to vacation in Cabo San Lucas or Cancún, and when he’s not at the ballpark, he’s on the soccer field, sort of, playing FIFA on PlayStation.

It’s Urías' career that sets him apart from his peers, in baseball and otherwise. He spent the off-season working on his mechanics, perfecting his routine — which starts with a 6:15 am wakeup call — and reflecting on his first season in the big leagues, which included 77 innings in the regular season, a relief appearance in the National League division series and a start in the NL Championship Series. “The truth is that every moment was incredible,” Urías says. “The postseason was something beautiful.”

And if all goes according to the Dodgers’ plan this season, it’s Urías’ young arm that will play a role in helping the team make a World Series appearance for the first time since 1988.

Urias loosens up before Game 2 of the National League division series against Washington in October. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

My entrance song is:

“El Sinaloense,” because it’s banda [music] and the banda [Banda El Recodo] is from my land.

My pregame meal is:

Mexican or Latin food.

My jersey is No. 7 because:

There was a player who played with the winter league team in my hometown. From the time I was young I watched him play. Darrell Sherman was his name, an American. From the time I was small I watched him play and I liked him a lot. I’ve always been No. 7. It was my first jersey.

My most memorable strikeout was:

The first one. I struck out Curtis Granderson.

If I wasn’t a baseball player, I’d be:

Who knows? A teacher, I think, of physical education because I like it. But who knows if I would have passed school.

My favorite sport besides baseball is:

Soccer.

Club América or Chivas:

América. It’s my team from when I was a kid.

My superstitions are endless:

For a start, if I wear a pair of socks, for example, and it goes well, I’ll use them again or keep using them until things go bad. Same with undershirts. Yes, I do wash them between starts.

My favorite baseball player is:

David Ortiz. I used to hit as a kid and he was a tremendous hitter.

The winner between Julio César Chávez Jr. and Canelo Alvarez would be:

I don’t want to get in the middle of that!

The gadget I can’t live without is:

My phone.

My favorite apps are:

Social media. Instagram and Twitter. That’s where I have fun.

I have at least a couple famous followers on Instagram:

I think [Julio César] Chávez [Jr.] and Canelo [Álvarez] follow me and I imagine there are more. Canelo and Chavez following me, that’s why I don’t want to say anything! It’s a big deal because they’re Mexican idols. Like me, they’re idols for a lot of people. I was happy they followed me.

My first car was:

A Dodge Challenger with a black and red stripe.

The hitter I would most like to face is:

I would have liked to have faced David Ortiz, but he retired. I’d like to face Corey, to tell you the truth. I’d like to face Corey Seager, but right now, we can’t. We’re teammates. But maybe one day.

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