Could the Dodgers leave Tanner Scott off of their postseason roster?
The Dodgers have a lot of question marks in their bullpen right now
The Dodgers bullpen has been a disaster. Closer Tanner Scott, one of the Dodgers’ top offseason acquisitions, has been especially inconsistent and led many to question what his role on the team should be going forward in the postseason.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has acknowledged that he needs to get creative with his bullpen, and showed that during Wednesday’s 11-inning win over the surging Diamondbacks. In Japanese rookie phenom Roki Sasaki’s return to the Dodgers after going on the injured list in May with a shoulder issue, he came out of the bullpen for the first time in his Major League career. Clayton Kershaw came out of the bullpen in the regular season for just the fourth time in his 18-year Hall of Fame career. Shohei Ohtani has even floated the idea of potentially playing some outfield in order to both pitch out of the bullpen and remain in the lineup.
Both Kershaw and Sasaki performed admirably in their new roles. Sasaki came in in the seventh, did not allow a hit and struck out two. With the game tied in the ninth, Kershaw came in and retired all three batters he faced. These strong performances, along with the little uncertainty with the Dodgers’ four-man postseason rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Ohtani mean that Roberts will have some difficult decisions when it comes to how to manage his bullpen.
The biggest question is what to do with Scott. Of all of the bullpen options, Scott has gotten the majority of the Dodgers’ save opportunities this season, but has arguably been their most ineffective relief option as of late. In Scott’s last 10 appearances, he has given up nine earned runs in 7 ⅓ innings. In Scott’s last appearance on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, he allowed two runs and blew a save, his MLB-leading 10th of the year, in a game where Ohtani pitched six shutout innings to raise his ERA on the season to 4.91.
D-backs shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who hit a game-tying RBI single against Scott, spoke after the game on Tuesday about his approach against the struggling Dodgers closer.
“He has a good fastball. I don’t know why he doesn’t use it more,” Perdomo said via Bill Plunckett of the Orange County Register. “I saw the at-bat against [Ildermaro] Vargas, he threw six of seven sliders. I said he’s going to throw the same thing to me. He threw a ton of sliders, I don’t know why. I was ready for that slider.”
With the Dodgers set to play in the three-game Wild Card round, Roberts will only need to lock in three of the Yamamoto-Snell-Glasnow-Ohtani foursome, meaning one of them will shift to the bullpen. That, along with starter Emmett Sheehan, who has impressed this season, does not actually leave a lot of open roster spots for relievers.
Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Sheehan, Kershaw, Sasaki, Alex Vesia, Jack Dryer and Anthony Banda should all be locks. That leaves three spots left for a number of potential candidates.
If healthy, Michael Kopech will almost certainly nab one of those. While Kirby Yates has also struggled, if he is healthy he will definitely be in play to get one of those spots as well. Blake Treinen has been inconsistent this season, but has the msot postseason experience out of all of the Dodgers’ relief options. The 23-year-old Edgardo Henriquez has pitched very well for the Dodgers down the stretch. Ben Casparius can provide the Dodgers with a bit more length.
While it would be shocking to not include Scott, who was an All-Star last year and signed a four-year, $72 million contract this offseason, he does not add a lot of value if Roberts does not trust him in high-leverage situations.
It is clear that Scott is not himself right now. Roberts knows this, hence his recent usage of Sasaki and Kershaw in high-leverage relief situations. October is not the time for players, especially closers, to work out kinks.
In all likelihood, Scott will still be on the roster and, while he may not necessarily pitch in the ninth inning, will still be a part of the Dodgers’ plans. But Scott has pitched poorly enough to make Roberts think twice about that decision.
Do not be shocked if Scott is completely left off of the Dodgers postseason roster, at least for the Wild Card round. There are just too many other options that offer more to the Dodgers than Scott does right now.