We see him maybe three times a week, yet he is arguably the best reliever in the Dodgers bullpen not named Kenley Jansen. He has quietly appeared in 21 games for the Dodgers and has even more quietly amassed a record of 3-0 and a remarkable 1.66 ERA – third best among all Dodger relievers with more than 20 innings pitched. His fastball often breaks the century mark, quite often, in fact. He is, of course, 33-year-old (this past Wednesday) right-hander Brandon Morrow and he is a big reason why the Dodgers are currently 41 games over .500 with an MLB-best 72-31 record.

In his 21 appearances thus far this season, the bearded 6′-3″ / 205-pound Santa Rosa, California native and former 2006 first round draft pick (fifth overall) by the Seattle Mariners out of Cal Berkeley has struck out 27 while walking only two in his 21.2 innings pitched and has yet to allow a home run. Yet while guys like Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor and Jansen are in the headlines almost nightly, and rightfully so, Morrow quietly comes in roughly once every five games and flat out gets it done by flat out blowing away opposing hitters. In fact, all but three of the 12 hits that Morrow has allowed thus far have been singles and none were triples or home runs. Getting it done indeed.

Many Dodger fans are completely unaware that Brandon Morrow was the fifth overall pick in the 2006 MLB First-Year Player Draft – two ahead of some guy named Clayton Kershaw.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

For those unfamiliar with Morrow, the Dodgers signed him to a minor league contract on January 25, 2017 after the San Diego Padres elected not to re-sign him following the 2016 season – a season that saw him go 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 18 relief appearances and 16.0 innings pitched. And even though the 11-year MLB veteran spent nearly two months at Triple-A Oklahoma City before his May 29, 2017 call-up to the Dodgers, he currently owns the third-best ERA out of the Dodgers bullpen behind only Kenley Jansen (1.39) and Pedro Baez (1.48), yet you rarely hear his name mentioned as a reason why the Dodgers currently own the best record in all of baseball after 102 games since the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals. In fact, the Dodgers are currently on pace for 113 wins this season, which would be a National League record for a 162-game season (which began in 1962) and the second highest in NL history behind the 116 games won by the 1906 Cubs and matched by the 2001 Seattle Mariners but never surpassed.

What does Brandon Morrow have to say about his unheralded success thus far this season?

Nobody knows because no one has ever asked him.

But you can rest assured that they most certainly will … and soon.