Dodgers quiet critics as Tanner Scott dominates again

After a brutal 2025, Tanner Scott has steadied the Dodgers’ late innings in 2026—posting a 1.25 ERA through May 24 in San Diego, tightening his strike zone, and thriving in a new setup-man role. The same executives once criticized for the signing are now being

For most of 2025, Tanner Scott seemed like the kind of signing that could only end in a story about regret. The four-year, $72 million deal was supposed to lock down the ninth inning for a defending champion. Instead, he led baseball in blown saves, posted a 4.74 ERA, and didn’t throw a pitch in the postseason.

This is why talk radio had a field day. The “Andrew Friedman finally whiffed” crowd grew louder by the day. And then 2026 started, and the sound changed.

Nearly one-third of the way through the season, Scott hasn’t just bounced back. He’s reasserted himself as one of the most dominant lefty relievers on the planet—and the critics who sounded so certain about his past now have less to say.

Through his outing on May 24 in San Diego, Scott has a 1.25 ERA with a 32.5% strikeout rate and a 3.9% walk rate. He’s throwing a first-pitch strike to three out of every four batters. His fastball is averaging near 97 MPH.

That’s not just a hot start. It’s the kind of early run that makes people wonder if the entire conversation about “what Scott is” has been lagging behind what he’s actually doing.

Last year’s version of Scott was different in ways the surface numbers made hard to ignore. This year, the underlying numbers suggest the improvement isn’t purely random.

His xERA is 2.97, which is considerably higher than his 1.25 real ERA, but it’s still good. His 2.39 FIP is great as well. His swinging strike rate of 17.9% ranks seventh among big league relievers. In other words. he’s pitching like the All-Star team version from 2024—far removed from the guy who got booed out of the ninth inning last year.

There’s also a steadiness to the performance that feels connected to the job he’s been asked to do.

Part of what makes the turnaround so satisfying for the Dodgers is that they’ve figured out how to deploy him. When they brought in Edwin Diaz on a three-year. $69 million deal over the winter. Scott shifted into the setup man role he thrived in with the Padres. The pressure of closing was off. The matchup-based usage was back.

Results followed quickly.

Then Diaz went on the IL, and the Dodgers had to move into a closer-by-committee approach. That could have been the kind of mess that spirals. It didn’t happen this year.

Dave Roberts acknowledged that Scott would get more save opportunities than others, and Scott has responded by looking like he never lost the role in the first place. The performance has carried the narrative more than the branding ever did.

Friedman’s faith looks smart now too.

The argument about whether the Dodgers should eat the contract never really went away. It just got harder to repeat once Scott’s results started to swing in the other direction.

“I think with Tanner, there was a lot of batted-ball luck that would be very hard to repeat again,” Brandon Gomes said. “We’ve seen it happen with elite relievers before.”

The front office’s read on 2025 had three parts: bad batted-ball luck. an undisclosed lower-body issue that lingered longer than Scott let on. and the mental weight of a role that didn’t suit him. Fix those three things, and the guy who posted a 2.04 ERA in 150 innings between 2023 and 2024 could resurface.

That’s the belief now getting tested against the calendar.

With Diaz out until the second half, and the rest of the bullpen finding its footing, Scott has become arguably the most important reliever on the roster again. Only now the Dodgers aren’t just hoping he can handle the assignment—they’re seeing it.

And when Diaz returns, the Dodgers will have a 1-2 punch capable of shortening any game to six or seven innings. It’s the kind of flexibility every contender wants heading into the deadline.

Scott’s contract is no longer being called an albatross. The angry mob has quieted down.

That’s how narratives seem to work in baseball. They’re loud. They’re confident. And they often age like milk. For the first two months of 2026, Scott has spent his innings reminding everyone how quickly they can flip—one quiet late-inning appearance at a time.

Tanner Scott Dodgers bullpen 2026 season Edwin Diaz Brandon Gomes Andrew Friedman Dave Roberts blown saves ERA FIP strikeout rate