Brandon

Morrow

Morrow signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers during the offseason, but didn’t pitch in the spring and Roberts said his arm hasn’t responded to treatment. The 36-year-old hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2018 and this could very well be the end of the line for him.

Morrow hasn’t pitched in a major-league setting since 2018. The 36-year-old veteran righty is expected to serve as a “leverage reliever” for the Dodgers this season, but needs to build up his arm strength before that happens.

Morrow hasn’t pitched since 2018 due to myriad ailments, but he’s evidently healthy now and is in camp with the Dodgers as a non-roster invitee. It’s difficult to believe that he’ll manage to avoid the injured list, but if he does he could be a weapon again for the defending champs.

The news of the signing comes from Jeff Passan of ESPN. The 36-year-old hurler was a dominant late-inning reliever for the Dodgers in 2017 before struggling through a pair of injury-plagued seasons with the Cubs. The Dodgers have had plenty of recent success rehabbing pitchers, so this reunion makes a great deal of sense on their end. If all goes according to plan, they add another weapon to an already dominant bullpen -- and do so at very little cost.

Baseball America also has Morrow’s release listed in their transactions page. The right-hander was re-signed as a non-roster invite in December, but dealt with a Grade 1 calf tear that kept him from throwing for the final two weeks before the COVID-19 shutdown. The hard-throwing right-hander has dealt with a bevy of injuries in his career, and while this could just end up being a logistical move, it’s also possible that Morrow’s time with the Cubs is coming to a disappointing end. Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that Morrow underwent a procedure for a pinched nerve, and does plan on pitching during the shortened 2020 campaign.

Morrow has been dealing with a muscle strain in his chest but told reporters that malady is improving. He strained a calf while doing cardio work this week and had an MRI that revealed a Grade 1 calf tear, which is the mildest grade. Morrow missed the entire 2019 season with an elbow injury.

Morrow appeared to be ahead of schedule early on in camp in his return from nagging elbow issues, but he’ll now back off his workload for a bit. Hopefully it’s just a minor issue and not something that will cause him to miss any significant part of spring training.

Morrow is going three days between throwing, so he’s being handled with care after missing the entire 2019 season due to elbow issues. Still, he’s hoping to be ready for Opening Day. The 35-year-old is capable of providing a nice boost if healthy, but the Cubs probably aren’t going to count on him at this point.

Hottovy also noted that if Morrow is behind at all, it would simply be a case of the team being cautious, and not the right-hander being physically behind. Morrow missed the entire 2019 season due to elbow issues. If healthy, he’ll function in a setup role in front of closer Craig Kimbrel.

Morrow missed the entire 2019 season because of nagging elbow issues and he’ll remain a huge health question mark moving forward. However, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale says the reliever’s new deal will pay him just $1 million if he’s in the majors, with another $1.25 million available in incentives. His upside is worth a gamble with so little at stake.