Tanner Scott continues to struggle out of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen, and manager Dave Roberts is starting to get fed up.
Roberts offered an honest appraisal of Scott’s ongoing difficulty adjusting after the reliever blew up for the second time in the past week in Los Angeles’ 4-3 extra-innings loss to the New York Mets on Monday night.
Los Angeles dropped its second straight game, and its lead atop the National League West fell to just one game over the San Diego Padres. What’s more, the Dodgers sit in third place in the National League, two games behind the Mets and 1.5 games back of the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs.
Why Does Dave Roberts Think Tanner Scott Is Struggling?
The Dodgers signed Scott away from the rival Padres during the off-season with a massive four-year, $72 million offer — while also adding standout reliever Kirby Yates —Â to shore up their bullpen, which has been absent a true brand-name closer since Kenley Jansen left after the 2021 season.
Despite leading the team with 10 saves, Scott has been one of LA’s least-valuable players thus far, and its worst pitcher based on his -0.4 WAR.
After becoming one of the most dominant relievers in the sport over the past two seasons, Scott has struggled with command, proven by his .267 batting average and .747 OPS against — the highest since 2019 — in 26 2/3 innings.
“I think it’s just [he’s] missing in the big part of the plate and the wrong part of the plate,” Roberts said. “The stuff’s good, it’s just the command isn’t where it needs to be right now.”
Scott’s 4.73 ERA is the highest on the Dodgers of any pitcher with at least 10 innings, and it has risen three full runs over the past two weeks. In that stretch, Scott has a 15.00 ERA with three blown saves and two losses over six innings pitched — even though the Dodgers are 5-2 in those games.
Scott’s inability to get the job done has led Roberts to reassess if he can trust his high-priced reliever in a high-leverage spot in the ninth inning. Scott picked up a hold by throwing a perfect 1/3 inning Friday night against the New York Yankees, but Alex Vesia got the save in LA’s 8-5 win.
“Right now there is no dedicated closer,” Roberts said. “There’s a few guys I feel comfortable with finishing games.”
On Monday, after the Dodgers rallied to tie the game at 2 on Shohei Ohtani’s ninth-inning sacrifice fly, Scott gave up a double to Francisco Alvarez in the 10th. Then Francisco Lindor drove home pinch-runner Starlin Marte with a single that made it 4-2.
How Does Tanner Scott Feel About His Recent Struggles?
To his credit, Scott has acknowledged his recent difficulty getting hitters out.
“Missed locations, especially down in the zone,” Scott said. “I’m supposed to be in different spots, and I’m just not hitting my location and it’s costing us.
“It’s happened to much. It’s frustrating, especially when we battle back [to tie the game Monday]. It didn’t go my way.”
Though he’s struggled with his location, Scott hasn’t been wild. His 29/4 strikeout-to-walk rate is great, even though three of his walks have happened in the past two weeks.
But Scott acknowledged his fastball is a weakness right now.
“It’s getting hit a lot,” he said. “Last year I relied on it a lot, and this year it’s getting hit and I’m missing locations.”
Still, Scott intends to work with LA’s staff, including pitching coach Mark Prior, to fix his current woes.
“Keep working,” Scott said when asked how to get out of the stretch. “Look at everything … and we’ll figure it out so it stops.”
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