One theme that has emerged during Andrew Friedman’s tenure as president of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers is a frequency with which he acquires players who he had previous ties with, and/or pitchers that have undergone Tommy John surgery.
Friedman checked multiple boxes last week when the Dodgers acquired Dylan Floro and Zach Neal in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds. Los Angeles initially claimed Floro off waivers from the Chicago Cubs last August.
That was after he joined the Cubs from Triple-A on five separate occasions, only to be returned to the Minors each time. Then Chicago was forced to designate the right-hander for assignment in order to create room on their 40-man roster for trade-deadline acquisitions.
While he didn’t reach the Majors, Floro found some stability with the Dodgers as he finished out the 2017 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He left the organization during the winter via Minor League free agency.
Frustrated and disappointed with how the 2017 campaign unfolded, Floro was motivated to demonstrate he could be an effective pitcher at the Major League level, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“When I came in this year, I wanted to prove a point, knowing I can pitch up here and just needed a chance,” Floro said. “I got that with the Reds. I’ve just been trusting my stuff more, throwing my two-seamer to both sides of the plate and attacking the zone as much as I can. I just wanted to prove to people that I belong up here. I’m just a little more focused and trying to prove a point.”
Floro went 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA, 3.35 FIP and 1.40 WHIP in 25 games for the Reds. He’s carried that success over to the Dodgers.
The 27-year-old twice has was thrown into a high-leverage situation against the San Diego Padres, and responded well in both instances. Floro threw a combined 3.2 scoreless innings without so much as allowing a hit and collecting three strikeouts across three appearances.
He had the scoreless streak snapped by allowing a run in a fourth game. Nonetheless, Floro’s emergence could be key for a Dodgers bullpen that is currently without the services of Pedro Baez, Josh Fields and Yimi Garcia, among others.
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