Reselecting Dylan Floro in Round 13 Classy Move by the Rays

People make mistakes. When possible, it’s always nice to give second chances.

With their 13th round pick, the Rays selected RHP Dylan Floro out of Cal State Fullerton. We just talked about Floro the other day regarding his unfortunate story. He was drafted by the Rays in the 20th round in 2009 out of high school as a pitcher with big-time stuff but a strong commitment to Cal State Fullerton. But after he didn’t sign, his stuff deteriorated and the potential he looked like he had has disappeared.

Floro used to hit the low-90’s routinely. Now he struggles to hit 91. His slider used to be regarded as a safe plus pitch. Now it’s regarded as “slurvy.” He has started to throw a changeup, but it’s nothing special. Floro managed to get good results for Cal State Fullerton thanks to deception and excellent command certainly not stuff. He is a completely different pitcher than he used to be. But the Rays are giving him a chance to reestablish himself, whether to find his old stuff or to maximize his ability as what he is right now.

Floro’s delivery got crazy as he saw his stuff slipping away. He puts a crazy amount of effort in his pitches just to hit 91 MPH. His delivery seems to make him likely to face injury unless he moves to the bullpen. But maybe all Floro needs is a fresh start. The Rays will likely get Floro’s delivery to what it was as he came out of high school, which will cost him some deception but which they hope will restore at least some of his stuff. If Floro could somehow return to the low-90’s and get his slider back to being sharp, his newfound command could help him be a good middle-of-a-rotation major league pitcher. Can he do that? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he’s just a lost cause at this point. But the Rays are giving him a chance to make up for his lost time. Expect Floro to sign quickly and immediately start working to find what the Rays saw in him coming out of high school.