Dodgers' $72 Million Reliever Gets Brutally Honest About Struggles

When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed reliever Tanner Scott to a four-year, $72 million contract in January, they were expecting to get the All-Star closer he was in 2024.

But since joining the Dodgers, Scott has struggled to perform at the level he did last season — or even close to it.

Before signing with the Dodgers, Scott came off the strongest season of his career and earned his first All-Star selection.

However, his ERA has ballooned from 1.75 in 2024 to 4.73 in 2025. Across the last seven games, he has posted a 15.00 ERA while picking up two losses and allowing 13 hits and 10 earned runs.

Scott explained his inability to hit certain spots of the strike zone as the root of his early-season struggles, per The Orange County Register’s Bill Plunkett.

“Missed locations especially down in the zone against hitters that I’m supposed to be in different spots. I’m just not hitting my locations and it’s costing us,” Scott said.

After Los Angeles tied the New York Mets in the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday night, Scott allowed two runs in the 10th to hand the Mets a 4-3 victory.

“It’s definitely probably mechanics. It’s happened too much. It’s frustrating especially when we battle back and it didn’t go my way," Scott added.

Scott only has two pitches in his repertoire: A fastball and a slider. 

His fastball has not been efficient this season, as both of the Mets’ runs in the 10th inning were off of Scott’s fastball.

“It’s getting hit a lot. It sucks right now,” Scott said. “Last year, I relied on it a lot. This year, it’s getting hit and I’m missing locations.”

Scott said his fastball would be difficult to hit if he was not struggling to hit certain locations in the strike zone.

“If it’s in the right spot, it usually doesn’t get hit,” Scott said. “If I miss location, it usually gets hit.”

Other than Scott, most of the Dodgers’ potential closers are injured. 

Relievers Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Brusdar Graterol are all on the 60-day injured list. Meanwhile, relievers Kirby Yates and Luis García on the 15-day IL.