2020 Dodgers in review: Dylan Floro

After a shaky 2019 season, Dylan Floro looked great again for the Dodgers in 2020. He was one of the most used arms out of the bullpen this season, as he appeared in a total of 25 games.

His strikeout numbers were right about where they usually are, but his 4.1 walk percentage was a career best. He averaged 1.5 walks per nine innings, topping his previous best of 2.7 from 2019.

Floro was still heavily reliant on his sinker, his go-to pitch. However, he did throw it less frequently, as his usage on it dropped from 47.1 percent to 42.9 percent. With his sinker being thrown less, Floro added a changeup to his repertoire. After throwing in 3.8 percent of the time in 2019, he threw it 21.6 percent of the time in 2020. With such an increase in his changeup, he also saw a decrease in his four-seam fastball usage by 16 percent.

Just like nearly every Dodgers reliever in 2020, Floro jumped out to a hot start. Through his first 10 games, he allowed zero runs and had opponents hitting under .200 against him. He had eight strikeouts with only one walk. In reality, it was only one bad outing that really inflated Floro’s numbers last season. Prior to September 18, his ERA was 1.71. While in Colorado, he allowed three runs on four hits, sending all of his numbers up.

Darn you, Coors Field!

He settled down after that rough outing, as he didn’t allow another run to close out the season. If you were to take out that outing, Floro would have allowed only four runs over the course of 23 ¹⁄₃ innings in 2020. Not bad at all.

Floro was the odd man out for the Dodgers when setting their initial postseason roster. He wasn’t included on the NL Wild Card Series roster, but was added to the NLDS roster and remained with the team throughout their World Series run. He appeared in a total of six games during the month of October, posting an ERA of above 5.00. For the most part, he had two bad outings and four really good outings.

2020 particulars

Age: 29

Stats: 3-0, 2.59 ERA, 25 G, 19 SO, 1.11 WHIP, 2.66 FIP, 165 ERA+, 4.75 SO/BB

Salary: $593,000

Game of the year

It was only one batter, but without Floro’s performance, who knows where the World Series could have gone. It was Game 6 of the World Series, and the Dodgers trailed the game 1-0. It was only the second inning, but this very well could have been the most crucial at bat of the entire game. With two runners on and two outs, Floro was called out of the bullpen to face Randy Arozarena, the Rays’ best hitter. A hit from him could have opened the game up and already sent the Dodgers to a Game 7. Instead, Floro struck him out on only three pitches.

Roster status

Floro has three years and 53 days of service time. He has one option remaining. The five-year veteran is arbitration-eligible this winter.