LOS ANGELES — Struggling through the worst offensive season of his career, Mookie Betts reached a breaking point in early August when he declared his season individually over and adopted a fresh attitude focused on the task at hand, unencumbered by the wreckage behind him.
Tanner Scott has reached that point himself.
“Well, I kind of just have the (to heck with it) attitude right now,” Scott said. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to go out there right now and not think. Just say, ‘(Screw) it.’
“I mean, that’s how I always pitched. I kind of lost it this year. Now I’m back to ‘(Screw) it.’”
Scott isn’t sure why he got away from that mindset. But he does acknowledge the burden of expectations that come with signing a four-year, $72 million contract and not living up to it.
“Anyone that would say No (they don’t feel it) is probably lying,” Scott said. “You always want to perform to the standard that you believe you are and the team and the fans see you as. When (stuff) goes south, you never want it to happen. But if baseball was easy, everyone would be playing it.”
It hasn’t been an easy game for Scott this season. His ERA entering Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies was 4.82, the highest since his 2021 season in Baltimore, and his strikeout rate (9.3 per nine innings) is a career low. He and Ryan Helsley (traded from St. Louis to the New York Mets at the deadline) are tied with a major-league high nine blown saves.
Scott’s season reached its low point on Friday in San Francisco, when he gave up a walk-off grand slam to Patrick Bailey. It was the third walk-off hit Scott had given up in four appearances – a nightmarish run that prompted him to say “baseball hates me right now.”
Dodger fans are not very fond of him right now either. There was a strong current of boos when he entered Monday’s game, his first appearance at Dodger Stadium since the Bailey slam.
“I haven’t performed to my standard and the team’s standard,” Scott said. “I signed here and I felt good. But the year has been up and down, up and down. You never want that to happen. You always want to ride the slow curve going up, not the bumpier road. It’s been a bumpy road this year.”
After the loss in San Francisco, Scott questioned whether he was tipping his pitches. He said the Dodgers’ staff “looked into” the tipping issue and found nothing. As a two-pitch pitcher – four-seam fastball and slider – Scott can be predictable, even if he isn’t tipping. But in his two appearances since that walk-off grand slam, Scott has retired all six batters he has faced, striking out two.
“Just gotta get back to ‘(Screw) it,’” he said, saying there were no specific mechanical adjustments that put him back on track over those two appearances.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has been understandably frustrated by the unreliable performances from his relievers, Scott in particular. But he remains committed to using Scott in the role he was signed to fill. It’s less of a vote of confidence, though, than an acknowledgement of need.
“The last two have been good,” Roberts said. “The stuff has been better. The slider has been better. Hopefully we found something.
“And he’s one of our guys. So I really believe without a doubt that, for us to win the World Series, we’re gonna need him. For me, I don’t see any other side. So the most important thing is for him to get the confidence that baseball doesn’t hate him, and he’s the best option when he goes out there.”
STEWART STARTS
Right-hander Brock Stewart began his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, pitching a scoreless inning. Stewart allowed a double and walked a batter. He threw 19 pitches in the inning, only eight strikes.
Stewart is expected to pitch another inning for OKC on Thursday and could be activated from the injured list during this weekend’s series with the San Francisco Giants. Stewart has been on the IL since Aug. 9 with a shoulder injury.
ROSTER MOVE
Catcher Dalton Rushing was activated from the IL on Tuesday, returning on the first day he was eligible after missing 10 days with a bone bruise in his right leg. Chuckie Robinson was sent back to OKC.
UP NEXT
Phillies (LHP Jesus Luzardo, 14-6, 4.03 ERA) at Dodgers (LHP Blake Snell, 4-4, 2.79 ERA), Wednesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market), 570 AM