Veteran right-hander Dylan Floro has a locker set up in the Athletics’ clubhouse, reports Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. It’s not clear whether he’s come to terms on a major league or minor league contract, but some type of deal between the two sides is in place. Floro is represented by Pro Edge Sports Management.
Floro, 34, split the 2024 season between the Nationals and D-backs, combining for 68 innings of 3.80 ERA ball. Those solid end-of-year numbers don’t tell the full tale of his season, however. The nine-year MLB veteran excelled in D.C., logging a pristine 2.06 earned run average through 52 1/3 innings. Floro’s 19.6% strikeout rate was well below average, but his 6.4% walk rate was excellent and his 47.6% grounder rate was sharp. However, the big driver of his success was a 2.2% homer-to-flyball ratio (one homer in 52 1/3 innings).
The rate stats painted Floro as a regression candidate, and while the Snakes surely weren’t expecting him to continue on with a rough 2.00 ERA pace, the extent to which the pendulum swung in the opposite direction with Arizona was nonetheless shocking. Floro was shelled for 17 earned runs — five more than he allowed in his entire Nationals tenure — in 16 1/3 innings. After surrendering just one homer through 204 batters faced as a National, Floro served up round-trippers to four of the 75 opponents he faced wearing a D-backs uniform. Arizona wound up designating Floro for assignment and releasing him in late September.
Though Floro’s home run suppression in Washington last year was clearly unsustainable, the veteran righty has demonstrated throughout his big league career that he’s better at keeping the ball in the yard than quite literally any pitcher in MLB. Outside of the 2017 season, when he logged only 9 2/3 MLB innings, Floro has never averaged even one homer per nine innings pitched. Opponents have mustered only 0.54 homers per nine frames against Floro throughout his 402 2/3 big league innings. Since his 2016 debut, 259 pitchers have tossed 400 or more innings. None has a lower HR/9 mark than Floro (making his Arizona struggles all the more surprising).
It should be noted that Floro’s struggles with the Diamondbacks weren’t simply a function of poor luck, however. The right-hander also worked with significantly diminished stuff in 2024. He’s never been a flamethrower, but Floro sat 92.9 mph with his heater from 2020-23 — including a 92.3 mark in ’23. Last year, that average velocity plummeted to 89.8 mph, per Statcast. His sinker (93.1 mph from 2020-23) followed suit, tumbling to 89.9 mph on average. Floro’s slider and changeup both sat 85-86 mph in 2020-23 but landed at 83.3 mph and 83.5 mph, respectively, in 2024.
More to come.
