It isn’t often Andrew Friedman misdiagnoses the potential value of a player.
We’ve seen countless examples of the Dodgers unearthing gems from the proverbial throwaway pile. These players were essentially let go from other teams for reasons valid or not, and it’s L.A. who saw something worth exploring in these discarded assets
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they could be enduring a situation where they’re on the other side of this dance — and it involves an NL West rival.
- It isn’t often Andrew Friedman misdiagnoses the potential value of a player.
We’ve seen countless examples of the Dodgers unearthing gems from the proverbial throwaway pile. These players were essentially let go from other teams for reasons valid or not, and it’s L.A. who saw something worth exploring in these discarded assets.
More news: Surprising Dodgers Outfielder Grabs Share of National League Player of the Week Award
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, they could be enduring a situation where they’re on the other side of this dance — and it involves an NL West rival.
In Bob Nightengale’s USA TODAY Sports notebook, he mentions former Dodgers pitcher Juan Morillo and the impact he’s currently making with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It appears as if it’s a classic ‘change of scenery’ situation for the powerful right-handed pitcher.
Scouts have been in awe by Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo, who was discarded by the Dodgers and signed as a minor-league free agent by the D-backs. Morillo, who was just called up last week, has been lighting up the radar gun at 100-mph and has yet to give up an earned run,” Nightengale wrote.
“That will be the greatest minor-league free-agent signing of the year, hands down,” said one scout.
Morillo first signed with the Dodgers in 2015 as a 16-year-old. Slowly but surely, the Venezuelan native made his way through the minor league system. Morillo battled multiple injuries and never quite could get on track with the Dodgers.
Making it as high as Double-A, he eventually was allowed to become a free agent in 2024. Morillo inked a deal with the Diamondbacks at the end of last year and impressed the franchise enough at Triple-A to get a call up this season. He’s not looked back — and appears to be a major piece moving forward for Arizona.
Thus far in 2025, Morillo has averaged 98.8 miles per hour on his fastball. This puts him in the 98th percentile of all pitchers in Major League Baseball. He’s not allowed a run in four outings for Arizona. In four innings, he’s struck out five batters and allowed three hits.
Letting Morillo go could totally come back to haunt the Dodgers considering the amount of times they play Arizona in the regular season — not to mention the injuries the pitching staff has already been enduring this year.
