When the Dodgers take the field on Monday afternoon, they will have played 31 spring training games with seven games remaining. Since their very first game on February 25, all but eight of the 22 non-roster invitees to major league camp have been reassigned to minor league camp. Of those remaining eight, only one is a pitcher – 32-year-old right-handed veteran reliever Brandon Morrow – and with very good cause. In his 10 spring training appearances thus far, the 6′-3″ / 205-pound Santa Rosa, California native has been nothing short of brilliant out of the Dodgers bullpen.

The Dodgers signed Morrow to a minor league contract on January 25, 2017 with a guaranteed salary of $1.25 million if he makes the major league roster.

“There’s probably other places I could’ve signed that had an easier road to the roster, but I wanted to play for a winning club,” Morrow told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo on Sunday afternoon.

Indeed he probably could have.

Morrow spent the last two seasons with the San Diego Padres, although he missed a year and a half with a shoulder impingement that eventually required surgery. However, in his 18 relief appearances with the Friars upon his return to action, he posted a very impressive 1.69 ERA with eight strikeouts and three walks in 16 innings pitched. And while this is certainly a very small sample size, it shows what a healthy Brandon Morrow is capable of.

From his very first bullpen session back on February 16, Morrow has been exceptionally sharp. And although he is currently hitting 94-95 MPH with his fastball, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts insists “…there’s still more in there.” (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

In his eight spring training appearances thus far with the Dodgers, Morrow has allowed only four runs on 10 hits while walking one and striking out 12 in his 8.1 innings of work. In fact, only fellow right-hander Ross Stripling has more strikeouts (16) than Morrow among all Dodger relievers. And of the four earned runs he has allowed, three were in his very first outing on February 26. In other words, Morrow has allowed only one earned run over the past month.

But with a bullpen already filled to the gills with relievers and with the likelihood that one of either Stripling or Alex Wood will soon be joining them, is the 10-year MLB veteran legitimately still in the mix to make the Dodgers Opening Day roster?

“He is, He is,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, after his team’s 3-2 loss to the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium on Sunday afternoon. “Brandon had a clean inning today and we’re going to go back-to-back with him so he’s going to pitch [on Monday], but I think we’ll know more. But yeah, he’s had a really really good camp.”

But it’s what the Dodger skipper told the gathered media next that raised a few eyebrows.

“The velocity, there’s still more in there. I know with Brandon. I’ve seen it (when both were in San Diego). It’s still coming out good – the slider looks good – so we’ll see how he rebounds tomorrow. We’re looking forward to seeing that.”

But wait, there’s more!

“[Morrow’s velocity] it’s down, and also the fact of adrenaline,” Roberts said. “But I still think that with Brandon, 94, 95, 96 – something like that – that’s still, that’s a good thing. That’s now. There’s still more in there. I saw him sitting 95 … 94-97, yeah. He’s throwing the heck out of the baseball.”

Could Brandon Morrow be the 2017 version of Joe Blanton?

Stay tuned…