Dodgers: 3 non-roster invitees who could make 2021 roster

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The Los Angeles Dodgers will be boasting a championship-caliber roster on Opening Day whether or not they bring any non-roster invitees north.

But while the list is mainly comprised of top prospects who’ll get a chance to shine in Arizona over the next month of televised baseball games (!), there are a few veteran names that feel like potential Dodgers on April 1.

Especially in the bullpen.

But wait … how many 40-man locks are there in the bullpen picture? Will there even be a real opportunity for anyone to sneak in there?

You can reasonably expect eight guarantees: Victor González, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Corey Knebel, Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen, and two of Tony Gonsolin/Dustin May/Julio Urías. Scott Alexander’s not making the big club, too?

Because if you count him, that’s nine ‘pen arms. Something tells me LA isn’t carrying a three-man bench.

Yikes.

This roster is far too overstuffed for us to even entertain the idea that, say, Michael Busch, Kody Hoese or Josiah Gray could make the Opening Day roster. Just enjoy what they give you in spring ball, and let them get out of the way. And it’s quite likely that none of these arms make the big-league bullpen without a spring injury to one of the team’s cornerstones.

Unfortunately — and this is terrible news — there will likely be an injury over the course of the next month. So, if we’re power ranking, which NRIs will be next in line to swoop in?

James Pazos of the Colorado Rockies (Photo by Rob Tringali/Getty Images) /

3. James Pazos

Alright, so … if Urías wins a rotation spot, then I’ve just listed off a “completed” bullpen with only one lefty (Victor González).

Of course, if someone goes down, this will be a merit-based line of succession, but you’d have to think that James Pazos, if he dominates this spring, could easily find his way into the newly-created hole.

What could James Pazos bring to the Dodgers?

The 29-year-old Pazos somehow managed to allow 10 earned runs in 5.1 unwatchable innings with the Colorado Rockies in 2020, but his most recent full season was 50 innings of 2.88-ERA baseball with the 2018 Seattle Mariners (3.60 FIP).

Any lefty in Major League Baseball in 2021 will have to be able to get hitters on both sides of the plate out; after all, the dreaded “three-batter minimum” is here to stay, and its sole mission is to run one-pitch lefties out of the game.

Well, during that 2018 campaign, lefties hit .280 off Pazos. Righties? Just .228. It’s interesting. All I’m saying.

Jimmy Nelson #52 of the Milwaukee Brewers (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

2. Jimmy Nelson

Jimmy Nelson has yet to have a true second chance to provide an encore performance to his 2017 ninth-place finish in the Cy Young race.

A complete shoulder reconstruction at the end of that season was followed by a lengthy rehab process, 10 underwhelming outings in 2019, and lumbar surgery that knocked out his first campaign in Los Angeles following a DFA. It’s been the opposite of smooth sailing for the fiery righty with the devastating breaker.

Could Jimmy Nelson impress enough to make the Dodgers?

It’s going to take a lot for Nelson to sell himself as a viable option for Los Angeles, but if he comes out firing this spring and the hole the Dodgers need to fill is in the middle innings (e.g. Gonsolin or May goes down), then he’ll be close to the front of the line.

Admittedly, I’m grasping at straws here, but at the very least, they’re nice straws!

This team will certainly ease Nelson along, and in an environment overflowing with viable pitching alternatives who are still on the open market, Los Angeles should have no trouble sneaking Nelson onto the Triple-A Oklahoma City roster if need be.

But, if after all the challenges that have been thrown at him for four consecutive years, don’t be surprised if Nelson gets a chance to fill a gap early, presuming he seems to be recovered.

1. Brandon Morrow

Call us suckers for storylines, but watching Brandon Morrow attempt to return to the mound for the first time since starring for the 2018 Cubs has caught our eye.

With his checkered injury history a known quantity, there was a degree of fatalism involved in watching Morrow pitch spectacularly in all seven games of the 2017 World Series in Los Angeles.

It was heroic, but on tenterhooks, and from that point on, the flame-throwing righty felt a bit like a ticking time bomb who unfortunately decomposed in Chicago the next season.

Could Brandon Morrow contribute to the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers?

Morrow is clearly the highest-upside option of all the non-roster invitees, top prospects like Josiah Gray excluded, and he’ll likely get the first crack at any open bullpen position. After all, he’s got nothing left to prove except his availability.

Morrow’s struggles to stay healthy are much more tolerable when he’s working for a minor-league contract instead of toiling on a big-money deal. His 50 whiffs in 43.2 innings, 2.06 ERA and truly special 1.55 FIP in 2017 all stand as exemplars of his power fastball and ability to overwhelm the heart of a lineup in crucial situations.

As of now? There’s no room to take a chance on Morrow. But things can, and will, change, as long as his right arm delivers.

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Trevor Bauer (27) smiles as he returns to the dugout after the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Great American Ball Park on Monday, Aug. 19, 2019.
San Diego Padres At Cincinnati Reds

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