All the Dodgers haters got conspicuously quiet after Tanner Scott flipped narrative

There was no shortage of Tanner Scott takes in 2025. He was the four-year, $72 million signing who 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. It didn’t stop the Dodgers from winning it all, but talk radio hosts had a field day. The “Andrew Friedman finally whiffed” crowd grew louder by the day.

The funny thing about narratives, though, is that they have a way of flipping and flipping fast. Nearly one-third of the way through the 2026 season, Scott hasn’t just bounced back. He’s reasserted himself as one of the most dominant lefty relievers on the planet. And all those critics are left without much to say.

The Tanner Scott numbers tell a very different story for Dodgers in 2026

Through his outing on May 24 in San Diego, Scott has a 1.25 ERA with a 32.5% strikeout rate and 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 more than a hot start. That’s “wait, is he the best lefty reliever in the league” kind of stuff.

It’s also wildly different from the version of Scott last year, who melted down so often. Even better, the underlying numbers suggest it’s more than luck. While his xERA of 2.97 is considerably higher than the 1.25 real ERA, it’s still good. His 2.39 FIP is great as well. His swinging strike rate of 17.9% is seventh among big league relievers. He’s pitching like the guy who made the All-Star team in 2024, not the guy who got booed out of the ninth inning last year. 

The role change unlocks everything

Part of what makes the turnaround so satisfying is that the Dodgers have 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, and the matchup-based usage was back. Results almost immediately followed. 

Then Diaz went on the IL, and the Dodgers were forced into a closer-by-committee approach. That could have been a disaster last year, but not this year. Dave Roberts acknowledged that Scott would get more save opportunities than others, and he’s responded by looking like he never lost the role in the first place. 

Friedman’s faith looks smart now

Remember all the takes about how the Dodgers should eat the contract? Good thing Friedman and Brandon Gomes didn’t buy it (of course they didn’t). 

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

The front office’s read was that 2025 was a combination of 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 put up a 2.04 ERA in 150 innings between 2023 and 2024 could resurface.

What it means for the rest of the season

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 do they see that he can handle the assignment. When Diaz returns, the Dodgers will have a 1-2 punch capable of shortening any game to six or seven innings, which is exactly what every contender is trying to do at the deadline. 

Scott’s contract is no longer being called an albatross. The angry mob has quieted down. That’s how narratives seem to always work in baseball. They’re loud. They’re confident. And they often age like milk. Scott has spent the first two months of 2026 reminding everyone of that with one quiet late-inning appearance at a time.

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