The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Tanner Scott to be one of baseball’s top late-inning arms. That hasn’t happened so far.
The Dodgers placed the left-hander on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation on Tuesday, recalling reliever Alexis Díaz from Triple-A Oklahoma City in a corresponding move. It’s the first time Scott has hit the injured list since 2021, three teams ago.
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The roster move was made on Scott’s birthday.
The injury came when Scott was pitching in the ninth inning Monday against the Minnesota Twins. After bouncing a slider in the dirt, Scott appeared bothered by something and received a trip to the mound from manager Dave Roberts, who pulled Scott mid-plate appearance for Kirby Yates. The Dodgers held on to win 5-2.
Roberts said after the game that Scott felt a sting in his arm some time before his final pitch and would undergo an MRI on Tuesday, via MLB.com’s Sonja Chen:
“I’m not sure what pitch it was, but he said he felt like a sting,” Roberts said. “I think it was probably the pitch before I went out there. … There was an X-ray, there was manual testing, and both those were positive. So that’s a good thing.”
Roberts said Tuesday that the team was still awaiting the MRI results while placing Scott on the IL, but the manager said he believed Scott to be in a better spot than previously thought.
Healthy or not, it has been a disappointing season for Scott in general. After watching him dominate up close in the NLDS last season, the Dodgers signed him to a four-year, $72 million deal that made him one of the highest-paid relievers in baseball.
In return, they received the reliever who currently leads MLB in blown saves, with seven.
Scott hasn’t been completely awful — he allowed just one earned run in the month of April and two in the month of June — but his inconsistency has helped turn the Dodgers’ bullpen into a weakness after it was supposed to be elite following last offseason’s spending spree. It’s notable that Scott’s walk rate, a longtime weakness, is down significantly since he joined the Dodgers, but his throwing more pitches in the zone has given some batters the ability to tee off on him.
Going forward, the Dodgers will try to right the ship while Scott is sidelined. With just over two months until the start of the postseason, they do not have much time.
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