Lefty reliever Tanner Scott has been removed from the Dodgers’ NLDS active roster, MLB announced today. As a result, he will be ineligible for the NLCS should the Dodgers advance. Fellow lefty Justin Wrobleski will take Scott’s place on the roster for the remainder of the series against the Phillies.
Manager Dave Roberts told Sonja Chen of MLB.com that Scott had a lower body abscess excision after noticing something during a team workout. “Some type of lower body, minor procedure,” Roberts said (link via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register), “But I do know that he’s recovering well.” The team was unsure of the severity of his injury and accordingly made no roster move before yesterday’s game against the Phillies. Scott did not pitch in that game, which the Dodgers lost 8-2. It was originally reported that Scott was away from the team due to a personal matter, though this update from Roberts indicates that the injury also factored into his absence.
Scott, 30, signed a four-year, $72MM deal with the Dodgers after a dominant 2024 season in which he pitched to a 1.75 ERA in 72 innings between the Marlins and Padres. While his 12.2% walk rate was high and a significant increase over his 2023 numbers (7.8%), Scott posted a well above-average 28.6% strikeout rate along with a 99th percentile hard-hit rate. Much of that success was due to his four-seam fastball. The pitch averaged 97.0 mph in 2024, with opposing hitters slashing just .134 and slugging just .179 against the pitch.
Unfortunately, his first year with the Dodgers has not gone as hoped. While his walk rate has improved to 7.6% and his strikeout rate is still above average at 25.2%, hitters now feasted on his fastball to the tune of a .520 slugging percentage. His hard-hit rate on the fastball has also increased to 46.9% after sitting at just 28.9% last year. The result was a 4.74 ERA and a career-high 11 home runs allowed in 57 innings during the regular season, with his advanced metrics, including a 4.25 xERA and a 4.70 FIP, largely supporting that performance.
All the same, given his success last year and his still above average velocity, the Dodgers would love to have Scott back as a leverage option for their postseason run. If his recovery continues to go well, he might be activated for the World Series roster, should the team advance that far. The Dodgers are currently up two games to one in the NLDS, with Tyler Glasnow set to start Game 4 tonight opposite the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez. They would need to win this series and then dispatch either the Brewers or the Cubs in the best-of-seven NLCS for Scott to be eligible to rejoin the roster.
It was Ippei
Nah, it was Mozeliak!
terrible contract
Terrible contracts will happen.
This’ll make it super easy to trade him and his friendly contract in the offseason
Lol
I can totally see it.
He was Frenando Cruz before his breakout at 28. What they expected when they signed him.. who knows. Hopefully not hurt bad.
Someone can always use another lefty…
The jig is up! They found our spy.
🤪
Run Tanner…run!!!
He was also only signed because he is one of the few that can strikeout Ohtani consistently and to take him away from a division rival.
The NLDS has showed Scott isn’t “one of the few” lefties who can strikeout Ohtani.
Yeah, no. They signed him because of his performance in 2023-24.
If I were a Dodgers fan, I would be questioning their decision-making as pertains to the pitching staff over the years. Obviously, it is deep and talented but they spend so much on so many and have a real track record of pitching injuries that is higher than most. Their margin of error given the vast resources allows them to overcome the wounded list most of the time but perhaps they could be a bit more efficient by not signing so many that already have a troubled injury history.
If you look across baseball, there are plenty, percentage wise, who get injured.
The dodgers specifically have looked for high upside pitchers, even those with an injury history. Their depth is how they work through those inevitable injuries.
Signing a lot of injury-prone pitchers is a feature, not a bug. Just gotta ride with it…
All pitchers are injury prone. Full stop.
Archive 81?
Dodgers have tons of money to spend on contracts of players who maybe oft injured. Other organizations like Pittsburgh not so fortunate
I definitely see what you mean,but look at the way they develop players especially pitchers. They see things no one else does and often make chicken salad instead of chicken s@#t.
Too bad Dodgers didn’t know about this last night. Could have saved Kershaw from that embarrassing 8th inning if Wrobleski was on staff.
They did. Scott wasn’t with the team last night, Pathetic TBS didn’t even do their job of covering it during the game.
TBS was too busy talking about how sad it was to see Kershaw struggling in the playoffs. A little over the top if you ask me. It’s not like we haven’t seen it before.
It looked like they were saving arms for game 4. Once Kershaw got hit around, he wore it for the team so they didn’t have to use arms needed moving forward.
Even if he doesn’t pitch in the postseason again, he was instrumental in the dodgers winning the NL West when many of their high end starters were down.
So if they win it all, he was still instrumental in their success as a whole.
Kershaw was already injured when the other starters started get re injured. Came back off the il. NIce to have that luxury
The Diamondbacks prefer Puk over great Scott..
Arizona should consider Fedde and transform him into something wild and exciting.
Fedde already is wild and exiting.
LA is not Tanners girlfriend.
I don’t know why he’s struggling this year but it seems like quite a few Pitchers regress under Prior. Maybe he’s not the best man for the job? Seems like only the people who probably don’t listen to him succeed maybe? IDK I’m not there. But I’d still bet on Scott’s arm and pedigree if I had a shot at him I’d take it.
LA has turned around a ton of pitchers. A couple relievers struggling isn’t nearly enough. Nature of the game. Treinen and Yates are very old.
I was always surprised Scott was ever able to harness his stuff and turn into a consistent reliever personally.
I wouldn’t say a ton. Philips could be one but eventually on the self with surgery, Hudson is another but required surgery, Treinen has turned it around, but required surgery. J.P. Feyereisen required surgery. Glasnow has been a disaster. The Dodgers haven’t been that great with pitchers to put it lightly. Maybe name some that they have turned around. Idk
Maybe it’s just me but I’m like Balk in that I remember way more failures than turnarounds. I mean guys like Snell and Kershaw probably don’t listen to him and Yamamoto and Sasaki can’t understand him anyway, But I recall more guys going down than up so to speak. Since Prior was always injured he seems to be good at teaching them that and how to rehab anyway.
UncleMike1526, some make arguments that the Dodgers developmental staff is elite, but could never understand that notion. To me if your definition of “elite” includes keeping pitchers healthy, producing long careers, then Dodgers fall short compared to some other organizations. It seems to me that the Dodgers maximize short-term results” (spin, velocity, strikeouts), but durability suffers.
It does seem to me anyway that Prior’s philosophy is throw sliders until your arm falls off and we’ll get it fixed. And the Cubs baby their pitchers to the point of non use. Who’s right? Truth is there is no one way to do it but you should probably listen to your body and if it hurts stop doing it.
You don’t have to look to far back for me at least who watched the Big Unit or Nolan Ryan or Rodger Clemens, Maddox etc. and see where spin rate, tweaks and analytics have made things more complex. Back then pitch counts weren’t being tracked, and they pitched 250+ innings with surgeries being rare
Seems like LA shouldn’t have hired a pitching coach that had no idea how to stay on the mound… Kidding, partially.
Mike, at least they have an expert in towel drills for their 13 injured pitchers… ha, IYKYK
Phillips kicked around the league for a few years before the Dodgers got him and turned him into a high leverage arm. This instance doesn’t support your argument
Sure it does, he’s had TJ, and the injury makes my point
They also pitched at 80% effort 80% of the time. Not many guys make the roster these days doing that
Robert5- Yeah the famous Mark Prior towel throw, That helped him do absolutely nothing in all his years of pitching. I think maybe it’s time to wipe something else with that towel and move on right? LOL
Except that shot will cost 3/56.
Not when the Dodgers pay it down it won’t. That’s the only way they move him now.
Relievers are volatile by nature. The few that aren’t are elite closers with $20M+ non-deferred salaries.
That slugging percentage on the fastball is gnarly.
I wonder if hitters have clued into something. MLB hitters can hit anything they know is coming.
Hemorrhoid (thank you autocorrect) surgery is at least verifiable should you be so inclined. Better excuse than a phantom soft muscle injury.
I guess he really is butt hurt then. I guess it’s tougher pitching than hitting. A lot of us remember George Brett and his painful home run trot in 1980.
I guess with all the money they spent on salaries you have to cut corners someplace. The Prep H budget must have been the first thing to go.
i’m willing to wager that it is a pilonidal cyst.
You’re f***ing with me. Hemorrhoid surgery? I’m actually about to start laughing
I thought this contract was quite an overpay when it happened, and it’s not looking good at all now. Not saying he’s incapable of bouncing back next season, but he was not very good this year.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I have 3 more years to rub it in everyone’s face (including Anthony and Tim) who gave me the “Well ackshually…” treatment when I said this was a stupid contract and 2 months catching fire doesn’t justify Mariano money. I haven’t gloated about anything this hard since the 7th grade spelling bee I won. Slightly more validating here than it was when I got into Duke
Damn Troy your HA HA stretches all the way through my Hoops Rumors link. You OK? LOL
I didn’t get taken off an NLDS roster because of a pulled ERA. I’m doing pretty good.
Anyway, is AJ Eustace the new guy? Welcome to the site and congratulations on landing the job.
Tim, while it was by far the most entertaining job application I have ever sent out, and I can’t say I was expecting the job, I did think more highly of your character before when I thought that you could be bothered to take the time to tell the people you didn’t hire that they didn’t get it. I’m disappointed in you. What the hell, man
You sound a little bitter. LOL
Not bitter. I had thought higher of Tim Dierkes before he was too lazy to send rejection emails though. Oh, well
How many empanadas does $72 million buy? Passing them out before/after games would make the bullpen a LOT better if they spent it on that instead
Obviously there were some who didn’t like the deal at the time, but the response was OVERWHELMING “there go the Dodgers buying themselves another World Series” and hailing this as unfair signing, LA is ruining baseball, etc. when Scott was first signed.
Now there are many acting like this was a terrible signing from the outset. It’s really easy to act like that on a website when you don’t have to back up your comment and post your initial response to this signing.
I don’t say this to stick up for the Dodgers, but rather remind a lot of people that it’s way easier to do this job on paper than it is in real life.
mlbtraderumors.com/2025/03/the-opener-dfa-limbo-fl…
Here is a link to me in March OVERWHELMINGLY from the outset saying it was a stupid contract (and 9 others). I have never changed course
Congratulations on being correct. Notice I said “some” didn’t like it, so my statement doesn’t pertain to you because it of course wasn’t 100%. If you go to his individual signing page, there were plenty who said it was unfair how the Dodgers were loading up. Those are the people I’m talking about.
Here is the link to said thread: mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/dodgers-to-sign-tanner-…
Notice the first 3 chains of comments. I’ll play it safe and say at least 75% of the comments are the type I suggested but I think it’s higher.
You’re right. I forgot how stupid people can be. More than 1,000 comments crying about the Dodgers while failing to see that they gave Derrick Turnbow $72 million.
Yeah, ok, buddy.
The self-proclaimed baseball geniuses here post as much gibberish as possible. They’re bound to right once which reinforces their grandeur. Then they go loudly tell us about it.
I won’t hate on Troy here because I don’t know his reasoning for needing to unnecessarily stick up for himself since he isn’t who I was going after, but people act like they’re correct 100% of the time. It’s easy to make proclamations in hindsight and without needing to post one’s original opinion.
Also, there’s 3 more years on this deal. Calling it dead after one is a bit premature, much like the comments about Semien’s deal following his first year in Texas, the same offseason before he helped them capture a title.
Dodgers advance to the NLCS. While I can’t stand the Phillies, I was hoping that they would stop the LA juggernaut. I can’t see the Cubs or Brewers beating LA.
I think we actually saw the Brewers beat the Dodgers six straight this season.
Yup. Brewers are an excellent team.
I’m just glad it looks like there will be a game 5 with the Cubs. They won’t be able to line up the pitchers at least.
I do think postseason Dodgers are a bit different than the regular season version.
sure during the season, playoffs are different
Sadface- I honestly didn’t see the Cubs beating the Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers and maybe even the Mets before the season. But if the Cubs win Saturday and play the Dodgers, I really didn’t see the Dodgers missing Scott, Treinen and Yates for the whole series either so there’s that. With the Cubs patchwork bullpen hitting on all cylinders right now I think right now I’d have to call it 50/50.
Would love to see the Brewers win the World Series, but so far, they haven’t made it to a World Series since 1982 (when they were an AL team). if the Cubs win game 5, I hope the Cubs beat the Dodgers, then I really don’t care who wins the World Series. Could be any of the remaining teams.
You can’t?
Any team can beat any team
Sure during the season, but playoffs are different.
I don’t think so
Why would that be true?
Roki.
Sasaki.
M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P….
If he keeps it up and they can win the world series, his advertising market is going to explode in Japan. Apparently it’s already very good.
Happy for his success thus far.
Nice now for Dodgers fans, but does he continue as a reliever next year or go back to the starting rotation?
If this is a problem of some kind, then it’s the best kind.
If they use up his arm winning the WS, and he has to sit all next year, it’s a win.
If he stays as the closer for next year and transitions to staying again? Win.
If he goes right back to starting next year and is effective? Win.
Is he isn’t effective at one role, he has the ability to go to the other role. Win.
The fact that they were not only able to answer the question he asked every team before signing, but fix his mentality and mindset as well? Total win.
Yeah so what happened to all the geniuses who were calling him a bust?
They are attending a weekend retreat with Old York, GOP Lizards, 69th Rounder, Razor Ramon, VegasSDFan, DigglinDickers, ZS59 and the other experts.
Ha-ha. Thanks for keeping score!
But somehow LA still wins in that trade. Scott continues to suck in a Mets uniform and Montas becomes a CY Young award candidate.