Tanner Scott’s first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers did not go as planned.
After signing a four-year, $72 million contract with the Dodgers last offseason, Scott fell far short of expectations. The 31-year-old was coming off the best season of his career in 2024, being named an All-Star after posting an impressive 1.75 ERA in 72 appearances, but struggled in his first season in Los Angeles.
Scott regressed last season, posting a 4.74 ERA in 61 appearances and unfortunately led the MLB with 10 blown saves. The left-handed pitcher continued to struggle deep into the postseason before undergoing surgery during the NLDS which held him out of the rest of the playoffs.
After handing Scott the largest contract that the Dodgers had ever given a reliever in franchise history last offseason, the team had to further bolster the bullpen this offseason by signing three-time All-Star closer Edwin Díaz to a three-year, $69 million contract.
MLB.com’s Sonja Chen named Scott as the Dodgers player with the “most to prove” out of anyone on the roster after his down year.
“Scott’s first season of a four-year, $72 million deal did not go well, as he posted a 4.74 ERA with an MLB-worst 10 blown saves,” Chen wrote Monday. “He did not warm up during the NL Wild Card Series or NL Division Series before being removed from the postseason roster following a procedure to treat a lower-body abscess. If Scott can bounce back, it will create quite the 1-2 punch at the back end of the bullpen with new closer Edwin Díaz.”
Before his struggles last season, Scott was playing some of the best baseball of his career. If the veteran reliever can return to form this season, Los Angeles could boast one of the strongest bullpens in the league as the team looks to three-peat.
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