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Dylan Floro

Marlins Activate Dylan Floro

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The Marlins announced that they have activated right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro from the injured list. Infielder Joe Dunand was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move.

Floro has missed the entirety of the season so far, having been shelved during Spring Training with some arm soreness. This was later diagnosed as right rotator cuff tendinitis, which landed Floro on the injured list as the season began in April. Acquired from the Dodgers prior to the 2021 season, Floro somewhat quietly had an excellent campaign in Miami last year. In 64 innings out of the bullpen, his ERA was 2.81, along with a 23% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate. He notched 15 saves and 11 holds as a key piece of the team’s bullpen.

Without Floro in the mix, the club has turned to Anthony Bender as its primary closer this year. Although he’s notched six saves, he’s also blown a pair, putting up an ERA of 4.91 so far in the young season. His 28.7% strikeout rate from last year has dipped to 21.7% so far this year, though this is a small sample of just 11 innings. Regardless of how the roles shake out, if Floro is able to replicate his success from last year, he should be a boon to the team’s relief corps. As a whole, the Miami bullpen has a 3.05 ERA, placing them 7th in the league.

NL Injury Notes: Giants, Floro, Ahmed, Simmons

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The Giants provided updates on some veteran names who have yet to appear in Spring Training games, though Brandon Belt and Evan Longoria are both expected to be ready for Opening Day, manager Gabe Kapler told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters.  Longoria has been dealing with right index finger tendinitis, while Belt has inflammation in his right knee.  The latter issue might be the bigger problem on paper, given Belt’s history of knee injuries, but Kapler said “We don’t really have concerns.  It’s just going to be a later start for Brandon.”

Tommy La Stella has also yet to take the field this spring, but is running the bases and taking part in other baseball activities.  After undergoing Achilles surgery in October, La Stella is now “getting very close to being ready,” Kapler said, and “Tommy has shared strongly that he wants the opportunity to be ahead of schedule and be ready for Opening Day.”  The final call will be up to La Stella and the team’s training staff, but even if La Stella isn’t quite ready to go when San Francisco begins play, Kapler intimated that the infielder wouldn’t miss too much time.

Some other injury notes from around the National League…

  • Dylan Floro has yet to pitch during Spring Training, as the right-hander is dealing with some arm soreness.  Marlins manager Don Mattingly was non-committal about Floro’s readiness for the Opening Day roster, telling MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters that “We’ll just have to see how that goes,” though Mattingly did note that Floro worked through some similar issues last year with no ill effects during the season.  One of baseball’s more underrated relievers of the last four seasons, Floro posted a 2.81 ERA over 64 innings in 2021, his first year in Miami.  This performance had put Floro in line for perhaps the majority of ninth-inning work for the Marlins this season, though Mattingly said “I think we’re going to be more of a mix-and-match club” for save situations.  Some new faces could also be joining the bullpen, as GM Kim Ng has stated the Marlins are exploring the relief market.
  • Nick Ahmed’s bothersome right shoulder is “good enough” for the Diamondbacks shortstop “to be out there right now,” but Ahmed told The Arizona Republic’s Nick Piecoro that his shoulder still isn’t 100 percent after almost two years of intermittent soreness.  Even after receiving two injections in his shoulder this past offseason, Ahmed said the treatment “didn’t go great, how I wanted them to go.  I just ended up rehabbing it most of the offseason.”  Surgery doesn’t appear to be an option at this point, as Ahmed said he has been working out a training regiment to help keep his shoulder strong and capable of holding up over 162 games.  Between his nagging shoulder injury and a knee problem, Ahmed admitted that injuries played a big part in his steep dropoff at the plate, as the shortstop batted only .221/.280/.339 in 473 plate appearances in 2021.  On the plus side, Ahmed’s health didn’t hamper his fielding, as he was still one of the game’s better defensive shortstops.
  • Speaking of Gold Glove shortstops, Andrelton Simmons is also dealing with some right shoulder soreness, Cubs manager told reporters (including The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro).  Simmons hasn’t played the last two days and was in Thursday’s lineup only as the DH.  Simmons joined the Cubs on a one-year, $4MM deal soon after the lockout ended.

Marlins To Acquire Dylan Floro

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2:32pm: The Dodgers are also getting righty Kyle Hurt, a fifth-round pick of the Marlins in 2020. Hurt is a California native who pitched at USC. Baseball America wrote before the draft that teams interested in Hurt “see his future as a hard-throwing reliever.”

2:01pm: The Marlins are set to acquire right-handed reliever Dylan Floro from the Dodgers in exchange for lefty Alex Vesia and a prospect, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). It’s the second bullpen-related trade of the day for the Dodgers, who dealt lefty Adam Kolarek to the A’s in exchange for infielder Sheldon Neuse as part of a four-player trade this morning.

Floro may provide an upgrade to Miami’s bullpen, which was among the worst in the majors a year ago. The 30-year-old, whom the Dodgers acquired in a trade with the Reds in 2018, pitched to a 3.10 ERA/3.68 SIERA with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate and 7.1 percent walk rate in 98 2/3 innings in a Los Angeles uniform. Floro’s 52.7 percent groundball rate during that span was one of the main reasons he was so effective, as he also posted a meager 8.5 percent home run-to-fly ball rate. Floro isn’t eligible for arbitration until after this season, and he’s not due to become a free agent until the end of 2023, so he could be a multiyear piece for Miami.

Vesia, 24, was a 17th-round pick of the Marlins in 2018 who made a 4 1/3-inning major league debut last season and allowed nine earned runs on seven hits and seven walks (with five strikeouts). He does, however, carry a 1.62 ERA with great strikeout and walk rates in 100 innings of work in the minors.

Dodgers, Dylan Floro Avoid Arbitration

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The Dodgers and right-handed reliever Dylan Floro have avoided arbitration with a $975K agreement, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. MLBTR projected that Floro would make anywhere from $900K to $1.2MM in arbitration.

[RELATED: MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker]

Floro, a 13th-round pick of the Rays in 2012, bounced around among a few teams earlier in his career before finding a home in Los Angeles. The Dodgers first acquired Floro on waivers from the Cubs in 2017, but they lost him when the Reds claimed him before the 2018 season. However, LA re-acquired Floro from Cincinnati in a July 2018 trade that has paid off for the Dodgers.

As a member of the Dodgers, Floro has managed a 3.10 ERA/3.68 SIERA in 98 2/3 innings, thanks in no small part to an ability to induce grounders (52.7 percent) and limit walks (7.1 percent). He posted a 2.59 ERA with career bests in grounders (56 percent) and walks (4.1 percent) in 24 1/3 frames last year.

Dodgers To Start Buehler, Kershaw In First Two NLDS Games

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is sticking with a familiar formula for his playoff rotation, telling reporters (including Jack Harris and Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times) that Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw will start the first two games of the team’s NLDS matchup with the Padres.

Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May are on tap to start Games 3, 4, and 5, though the three pitchers wouldn’t necessarily be deployed in that order.  As always, the Dodgers will be flexible with their pitching arrangement during the postseason.  “There might be a situation where those guys [Urias, Gonsolin, May] are available in any of the preceding games as a side day to then make a start,” Roberts said.

It also isn’t out of the question that Buehler returns on short rest to pitch in a possible Game 5, though the first step for the Dodgers is making sure that Buehler can get through as much of Game 1 as possible.  Two separate trips to the injured list due to a blister problem limited Buehler to just 11 2/3 innings after August 21, and he tossed only four innings (73 pitches) in Game 1 of the Dodgers’ wild card series with the Brewers.

Whether Buehler could pitch longer against the Padres is still up in the air, as Roberts said he will “keep an eye on him each inning….I can’t say it’s scripted or when we’re going to deploy our guys in the pen.”  The final five innings of the Game 1 victory over Milwaukee were handled by Urias (three innings), and then an inning each from Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen, with the reliever trio holding the Brewers scoreless.

Jansen’s outing wasn’t without some shakiness, however, which left Roberts saying that Jansen is still the team’s closer, but no longer the automatic option in save situations.  “There are still going to be times that I might need him in a different inning, and he’s on-board with whatever to help us win baseball games.  It’s a title, but I think that in practice, there are certain innings and certain parts of the lineup that I think he’s the best option.”  While Jansen has a 1.97 ERA over 50 1/3 career postseason innings, he also has a few infamous meltdowns on his resume — over his last eight World Series appearances, Jansen has a loss and is only 1-for-4 in save chances.

Though the L.A. pitching staff is well rested after their two-game sweep of the Brew Crew, the Dodgers will still add some more depth, as Roberts intimated that he will add an extra pitcher to the NLDS roster.  Los Angeles deployed 15 position players and 13 pitchers on its wild card series roster, but one of those position players will be left out of the NLDS in favor of another arm, likely right-hander Dylan Floro.

Dodgers Place Max Muncy On IL With Fractured Wrist

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The Dodgers have seemingly avoided a worst-case scenario with injured infielder Max Muncy, but he’ll still hit the 10-day IL, the team announced Friday. The title contenders recalled infielder/outfielder Kristopher Negron from Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move.

Muncy left the Dodgers’ win over the Padres on Wednesday after taking a fastball off the right wrist from the Friars’ Matt Strahm. Although Dodgers manager Dave Roberts initially indicated Muncy had avoided a break, that isn’t the case. He did indeed suffer a fracture, according to the club. However, it’s not as dire as it sounds – Muncy called it “average” news, and added he could return within one or two weeks, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets.

The Dodgers are laden with depth (star prospect Gavin Lux may be among second base possibilities if Muncy can’t come back quickly), but they obviously don’t want to go without Muncy for long as the playoffs near. The 2018 breakout performer has continued to stand out this year with a .253/.375/.525 line and 33 home runs across 534 plate appearances. Along with giving the Dodgers yet another formidable bat, Muncy has been one of many prominent multi-position options for the club. The 29-year-old has started at second base 59 times, first on 35 occasions and third for 24 games.

While the Dodgers can only hope Muncy will be back in short order, infielder David Freese and righties Dylan Floro and Ross Stripling (previously reported) are all set to come off the IL when rosters expand Sunday, per Castillo. Freese will slot back into the Dodgers’ lineup on a regular basis, Roberts announced, after sitting out more than a month with a left hamstring strain. The 36-year-old first baseman has missed time on two occasions this season with the same injury, but he has still enjoyed a marvelous campaign with the bat. On a per-PA basis, few major leaguers have been more effective than Freese, owner of a .300/.399/.579 line (155 wRC+) with nine homers in 163 trips.

Statistically, Floro has been among the Dodgers’ most reliable relievers in what has been a rickety bullpen in 2019. That’s not to say Floro has been lights-out, though – the team optioned him to the minors earlier this month, and he posted a 3.89 ERA/3.78 FIP with 7.3 K/9, 2.92 BB/9 and a 52.3 percent groundball rate before hitting the shelf Aug. 20 with a left intercostal strain. But he and Stripling still look as though they’ll help bolster the Dodgers’ staff to some degree with the postseason approaching.

Dodgers Place Hyun-Jin Ryu On 10-Day IL

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve placed southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu on the 10-day injured list with neck soreness. His anticipated timeline to return isn’t yet known.

In other moves, the L.A. org announced the already reported arrival of exciting pitching prospect Dustin May while recalling fellow righty Tony Gonsolin. Reliever Dylan Floro was optioned out to create roster space. Southpaw Scott Alexander moves to the 60-day injured list to make 40-man space for May.

Ryu, 32, has been on an unbelievable run of success since accepting a qualifying offer to remain with the Dodgers. In 21 starts, he has run up 135 2/3 innings of 1.53 ERA pitching while maintaining 7.8 K/9 against 1.1 BB/9 along with a 51.5% groundball rate.

It’s unlikely the veteran lefty will be able to keep up quite that level of output the rest of the way, but he seems to be in top form at an important time for a Dodgers club that just placed a big bet on its existing pitching options at the trade deadline. Given his lengthy injury history and limited accumulation of innings in recent campaigns, it’s not surprising to see Ryu hit the shelf. There’s no indication of the seriousness of the injury, but it’s reasonably likely the Los Angeles organization was as concerned with finding Ryu some down time as it was worried about this particular malady.

West Notes: D-backs, Rangers, Dodgers, Mariners

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Diamondbacks righty Jon Duplantier is back from the injured list, but he’s not heading onto the MLB roster. He’ll be optioned back to Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert tweets. It’s good to see that he’s ready to get back to action already. When Duplantier hit the shelf in mid-June with shoulder inflammation, there was at least some fear of a reasonably significant injury. In his first 25 frames of MLB action, the now-25-year-old worked to a 4.32 ERA with 24 strikeouts and nine walks.

  • After a brief run in their rotation, righty Jesse Chavez has returned to the Rangers’ bullpen, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. The club will recall lefty Joe Palumbo from Triple-A Nashville to start Monday in Seattle. Chavez is coming off three straight starts in which he yielded at least four earned runs, and his outing against Arizona on Wednesday was especially grisly. Chavez coughed up seven earned runs on five hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning.
  • The Dodgers announced Friday that reliever Dylan Floro has been placed on the 10-day injured list with neck inflammation. He’s replaced by fellow righty Casey Sadler. Injury aside, Floro has been one of several Dodgers relievers to take steps back since last season. Floro combined for a 2.25 ERA and a 55.1 percent groundball rate in 64 innings between LA and Cincinnati in 2018, but he’s at 4.11 and 51.9 in those categories across 35 frames this year. While Floro has walked fewer hitters, his strikeout and home run rates have gone in the wrong direction.
  • Mariners reliever Hunter Strickland is on track for potential activation next weekend, per MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer (via Twitter). He’ll first need to make it through three rehab appearances at Triple-A, but it’s good news for the 30-year-old reliever, who has been sidelined for a long stretch with a lat injury. Strickland had been slated to serve as the Seattle closer until going on the IL on March 30 with a right lat strain.

NL West Notes: Goldschmidt, Blanco, Floro

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The Diamondbacks’ recent plummet out of contention in the NL West should force the team and fans alike to ask the uncomfortable question of how long Paul Goldschmidt will remain with the team, writes Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Arizona holds a no-brainer $14.5MM option over Goldschmidt for the 2019 season, but he’s slated to hit free agency after that campaign. The D-backs don’t have tons of financial flexibility (thanks largely to enormous salaries for Zack Greinke and, to a lesser extent, Yasmany Tomas), and they’re lacking in the upper levels of the farm following numerous win-now trades. There’s also the question of how willing the team should be to commit what could be a $25MM+ annual salary to a player who’d be 32 years of age in the first season of that contract.

While the D-backs and Rockies aren’t in the same situation in terms of payroll and overall farm strength, Arizona’s Goldschmidt conundrum nonetheless has some parallels to the looming decision Colorado will need to make with regard to Nolan Arenado. Both players will be free agents following the 2019 season, and both franchise players could be difficult to extend now that they’ve come this close to reaching free agency.

Here’s more from the division…

  • Hunter Pence has recently ducked questions about whether he’ll continue his playing career beyond the current season, but Kerry Crowley of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that Pence isn’t the only Giants outfielder whose career could be in question. Veteran speedster Gregor Blanco discussed his future with Crowley, acknowledging that he’s not certain what type of interest he’ll draw in free agency but adding that he does hope to continue his career. “I’m really pleased and happy and proud of myself for my career, but I still have one more goal and that’s trying to make it to 10 years in the game,” said Blanco. The 34-year-old technically has already appeared in parts of 10 big league seasons, though his 2009 campaign was quite abbreviated (24 games, 48 PAs) and, in terms of Major League service time, he’ll finish 2018 with eight-plus years. It’s been a tough season at the plate for Blanco, who has batted just .225/.277/.331 through 174 trips to the plate.
  • Dylan Floro has proven to be an exceptional find for the Dodgers, writes Mark Whicker of the Southern California News Group. Acquired from the Reds alongside some international bonus pool space in a largely unheralded trade this summer, the journeyman Floro has delivered 27 innings of 1.33 ERA ball with 10.0 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 0.33 HR/9 and a 54.8 percent ground-ball rate. Floro discussed the manner in which he’s changed his pitch selection since returning to Los Angeles, as well as the way in which manager Dave Roberts’ confidence has made him feel at ease. “Mainly it’s been nice to know I’m going to get chances even if I have a rough night, and I’ve had a couple of those,” said Floro, who had previously been designated for assignment on four occasions (including once by the Dodgers, before ever pitching in a big league game for them).

Dodgers Acquire Dylan Floro, Zach Neal From Reds; Designate Daniel Corcino

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The Dodgers have acquired right-handers Dylan Floro and Zach Neal from the Reds, as per a team press release.  Los Angeles will also receive some international bonus pool space from Cincinnati in the trade, and right-hander Daniel Corcino has been designated for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot.  The Reds will receive minor league right-handers Aneurys Zabala and James Marinan in the trade.

After signing a minor league deal with Cincy over the winter, Floro emerged as a solid bullpen piece for the Reds, posting a 2.72 ERA, 2.25 K/BB rate, and a 6.7 K/9 over 36 1/3 innings this season.  While he doesn’t miss many bats, Floro has consistently been able to keep the ball on the ground over his seven-year pro career, including a 56.8% grounder rate in 2018.  He has also done a good job of limiting contact, as his .282 xwOBA is notably lower than his .307 wOBA.

Floro’s skillset makes him a logical fit in a Dodgers bullpen that has had some issues keeping the ball in the park, as the L.A. relief corps ranks in the bottom half of all bullpens in HR/9.  Dodgers relievers generally rank around the middle of the pack in most categories, and the team was known to have been looking around (particularly at the Marlins) for some bullpen help to bolster a unit that has been thinned by injuries.  It wouldn’t be surprising if the Dodgers weren’t done with their relief shopping prior to the deadline, as while Floro has been effective this year, he isn’t a proven commodity with only 61 career Major League innings under his belt.

This is actually the second time Floro has been in the Dodgers’ system, as the club selected him off waivers from the Cubs last summer before letting him go as a free agent after the season.  Neal is another former Dodger, who was dealt to the Reds back in April as part of a three-player trade.  The 29-year-old Neal saw lot of action (70 innings) right out of the gate in his 2016 rookie season as a member of the A’s, though he has since tossed just 15 2/3 big league frames.  He’ll likely continue to pitch in Triple-A, potentially replacing Corcino as minor league relief and swingman depth if Corcino is lost on DFA waivers.

Corcino tossed four innings for L.A. this season, which marked his first bit of MLB action since 18 2/3 innings for the Reds back in 2014.  The 27-year-old has a 4.06 ERA, 8.2 K/9, and 2.05 K/BB rate over 838 1/3 minor league innings in the farm systems of the Reds, Cubs, and Dodgers.

This is the Reds’ second trade of international bonus pool space in the last three days.  Cincinnati can’t spend more than $300K on any single international prospect in this year’s July 2 class due to past overages (under the old int’l signing rules), and with a large pool of $6,025,400 to work with, it isn’t surprising that the Reds have unloaded some of that cash to the Red Sox and now the Dodgers to obtain some other young talent.  It isn’t known how much Cincy is sending to Los Angeles, though international pool funds can only be dealt in $250K increments.

Marinan is the most notable prospect name in the trade, with MLB.com ranking him 21st amongst Dodgers farmhands (Baseball America had Marinan 24th in their preseason ranking of Los Angeles’ top 30 minor leaguers).  A fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft, Marinan is still just 19 years old, and he has a 1.95 ERA over 27 2/3 innings at the rookie ball level, albeit with a troubling 5.9 BB/9.  MLB.com’s scouting report lists the young righty at 6’5″ and 220 pounds, and describes him as possessing a fastball in the 92-96mph range, a slider, and “an upper-70s curveball that features good depth when he stays on top of it.”

Zabala is another young arm joining the Reds’ farm system, a 21-year-old signed out of the Dominican Republic who is in his fifth season of pro ball.  Zabala has worked exclusively as a reliever since 2015, and he has a career 5.05 ERA, 7.5 K/9, and 1.26 K/BB over 164 innings.

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