Tanner Scott was arguably the biggest disappointment for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025. But LA isn’t giving up on him in the second year of his $72 million deal.
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At the general managers’ meetings this week, Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes spoke about Scott and the team’s confidence in him bouncing back after a disastrous 2025 campaign.
“I think we’ve seen it in the past with guys, there is reliever volatility,” Gomes said to reporters. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen this happen in the past with other great relievers. So our full belief is that Tanner is gonna come back and have a great year for us next year, and be right there in the mix to pitch at the back end of games.”
The Dodgers signed Scott after a dominant 2024 season in which he made his first career All-Star appearance and finished with a 1.75 ERA across 72 innings with 84 strikeouts and 22 saves.
The Dodgers paid him to be their closer, but unfortunately, things didn’t exactly pan out.
Scott led the league with 10 blown saves and didn’t factor into the team’s postseason, in part because of a fluke injury that led to an abscess incision. But even before being removed from the team’s NLDS roster, Scott hadn’t been used in the playoffs and didn’t appear to be very high on manager Dave Roberts’ “trust tree.”
Overall, Scott made 61 appearances, sporting a 4.74 ERA with 23 saves. His numbers were down across the board, as his strikeout percentage dropped to 25.3 (after being as high as 33.9 in 2023) and his hard hit percentage rose to 42.3 (after being as low as 26.3 in 2023).
His four-seam fastball — which allowed an opponents’ batting average of just .134 in 2024 — was hit at a .244 clip in 2025. His other pitch, the slider, was hit at a .267 clip (after being hit at a .231 clip in 2024).
Despite the struggles, the Dodgers aren’t giving up on Scott, who they hope can fix his command and get back to being the dominant back of the bullpen arm in 2026. While they likely won’t rely on him to be the closer entering the season, he’s shown that he has the stuff to be a shutdown guy — and could emerge as just that for the back-to-back reigning champions next season.
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Photo Credit: Allan Henry-Imagn Images
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