{"id":95358,"date":"2025-02-10T15:33:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=95358"},"modified":"2025-02-10T15:33:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T20:33:30","slug":"tanner-scott-dodgers-closer-outlook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/10\/tanner-scott-dodgers-closer-outlook\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Latest Bullpen Addition Could Make a Big Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading into the season with several pitchers capable of closing games. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed to CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden<\/a> that Tanner Scott will likely get the majority of the save opportunities. While the team hasn’t consistently used a regular closer in recent seasons, other experienced options include Kirby Yates, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech and Evan Phillips\u2014all of whom have experience in the ninth inning.<\/p>\n

Given Scott\u2019s $72 million contract<\/a> and his stellar performance over the past two seasons, it\u2019s no surprise he\u2019s getting the nod over Yates. The left-hander posted a 2.04 ERA across 150 innings, recording 34 saves in 40 chances. He\u2019s struck out 31.3% of opponents while walking just 10%, numbers strong enough to close for any team in the league.<\/p>\n

Tanner Scott to Headline Dodgers Bullpen<\/h2>\n

Scott\u2019s arrival provides the Dodgers with a back-end relief ace for what is shaping up to be a deep bullpen. With Treinen, Kopech, Alex Vesia, and Brusdar Graterol playing key roles in the Dodgers\u2019 2024 World Series title run<\/a>, the bullpen is poised to be even stronger with Scott likely locking down the ninth inning. Over the past two seasons, Scott has ranked in the 90th percentile or better in whiff rate (34.7%) and hard-hit rate (27.5%), further bolstering his case as the team\u2019s go-to closer.<\/p>\n

Last season, batters hit just .134 with a .179 slugging percentage against Scott\u2019s high-90s four-seamer. Those marks ranked second and first, respectively, among pitchers who threw at least 300 four-seamers. His fastball and high-80s slider both have a few extra inches of vertical drop compared to similar pitches, helping him generate a 51.2% groundball rate since 2023.<\/p>\n

As spring training unfolds, it\u2019s possible that Yates or other relievers could see save opportunities based on matchups and performance. Given the Dodgers\u2019 history of using multiple closers, their approach to late-game situations may remain fluid. Scott\u2019s performance will be crucial to the Dodgers\u2019 late-game success, but fans should expect a dynamic closing situation rather than a traditional hierarchy. While he is the favorite for the role, the team\u2019s bullpen depth ensures that Yates and others will stay involved in high-leverage situations.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: \u00a9 Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading into the season with several pitchers capable of closing games. Manager Dave Roberts confirmed to CBS Sports HQ’s Jim Bowden that Tanner Scott will likely get the majority of the save opportunities. While the team hasn’t consistently used a regular closer in recent seasons, other experienced options include Kirby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3686,"featured_media":95361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[5180,991,3321,2845,771,5660],"class_list":["post-95358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-alex-vesia","tag-blake-treinen","tag-brusdar-graterol","tag-kirby-yates","tag-michael-kopech","tag-tanner-scott"],"modified_by":"Matt Graves","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3686"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95358"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95362,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95358\/revisions\/95362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}