The Los Angeles Dodgers made a major signing during the offseason when they agreed to terms with Tanner Scott, who was considered not just one of the top relievers available in free agency, but one of the best overall in baseball.
But the Dodgers have not seen that version of Scott yet. He has a 5.01 ERA across 50.1 innings with just 52 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP. Scott has seen his strikeout rate drop, and his home run rate is the worst mark of his career, by far.
Scott has allowed 1.79 homers per nine innings this year, far surpassing the 0.47 mark he’s been at over the last three seasons.
The long ball bit him again on Friday as Scott allowed a walk-off grand slam to Patrick Bailey, one of the worst hitters in MLB. Following the Dodgers’ loss to the San Francisco Giants, Scott expressed ongoing struggles are weighing on him, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Gave up a bad pitch to a hitter that can hit fastballs. It cost us again,” Scott said in another forlorn post-game post-mortem with the media. “I’m tired of it happening.
“It’s terrible. I’m having the worst year of my life. I gotta be better.”
It was the 11th homer Scott has allowed this year, eight more than he allowed last year in 21.2 fewer innings. But the struggles are puzzling all-around, and it’s stumped both the organization and Scott.
The left-hander’s stuff is similar to where it’s been over the last few years, both in terms of spin and velocity. His pitch usage is also similar, and nothing stands out mechanically or with his pitch locations.
Scott has come up with tipping as a potential explanation, but that is also something the team has looked into as well and have not found anything:
“I don’t know if I’m tipping or what, but they’re on everything. It sucks,” he said.
“It was a fastball above the zone. Maybe I’m tipping. I have no friggin’ clue right now.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has maintained confidence in Scott throughout the struggles, and he continues to back his reliever. That has included calling on him in key situations, which have often backfired:
“He’s going through it right now,” Roberts said. “We’ve just got to continue to try to give him confidence and when the time’s right, run him out there and expect good things to happen and expect it to turn.
“Certainly it doesn’t feel good giving up runs in any capacity. He’s one of our highest-leverage guys, so a lot of times when it doesn’t go well, the game is in the balance. There’s obviously outside noise, but inside the clubhouse, guys believe in him. I believe in him. We’re going to need him. That’s just the facts. We’re going to need him.”
The Dodgers do need Scott to figure things out, but they’re also running out of time, and they’re locked into a division race where each game matters a little more. Roberts may have no choice but to stop running out Scott, but that has yet to happen.
Tanner Scott feels hated
Earlier in the week, Scott allowed another walk-off hit, and expressed his frustrations by saying baseball hates him right now.
Scott’s appearance on Sept. 5 was his first since Aug. 31, when he also gave up a home run. That was a three-run blast to Corbin Carroll that allowed the Arizona Diamondbacks to tie the game in the eighth inning.
The blown save was Scott’s eighth of the season, another unwanted career high. He now has nine blown saves.
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