Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has been known to make under-the-radar bullpen acquisitions that have turned into big contributors, whether it be Joe Blanton or Brandon Morrow.
One other reliever that would fall into that category was Dylan Floro in 2018, as after being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds before the trade deadline, he pitched to a 1.63 ERA in 29 games with the Dodgers.
Floro returned to the club in 2019 and was expected to be one of manager Dave Roberts’ main arms out of the bullpen, and for a while that looked to be the case.
The right-hander did not allow his first earned run of the year until May 11, beginning the season with 15 consecutive scoreless appearances. Floro’s season took a bit of a downhill turn from there though, due to shoulder and neck injuries.
It led to stints with Triple-A Oklahoma City that the Dodgers hoped would be beneficial in righting the ship.
Overall in 50 appearances at the big league level in 2019, Floro went 5-3 with a 4.24 ERA, 3.56 FIP and 1.29 WHIP with 42 strikeouts and 14 walks in 46.2 innings.
He was able to get healthy and appeared in some games throughout the month of September when rosters expanded, but his ineffectiveness led to him being left off L.A.’s roster in the National League Division Series.
2019 highlight
As mentioned, Floro was arguably the best reliever in baseball for the first month and a half of the 2019 season. After 15 straight scoreless appearances, he finally gave up two unearned runs on May 9 and then his first earned run of the year on May 11.
In his first 16 appearances, hitters posted just a .458 on-base plus slugging percentage against Floro, and he struck out 12 while only walking two in 17.1 innings with a 0.00 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
2020 outlook
Floro fell out of the good graces of the Dodgers coaching staff and front office a bit in 2019, so it will be on him to earn their trust back next spring to get a spot on the Opening Day roster.
While he is in his final year before being arbitration-eligible, Floro is also out of Minor League options so could end up out of the organization if he does not make the big league roster.
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