Redemption Time for Tanner Scott
Last season when Scott came into a game, Dodger fans held their breath. Their supposed closer had a disastrous season. Signed to a four-year contract, he was not performing like a star reliever. He did manage to log 23 saves on the year. But it was the 10 blown saves that the…
Last season when Scott came into a game, Dodger fans held their breath. Their supposed closer had a disastrous season. Signed to a four-year contract, he was not performing like a star reliever. He did manage to log 23 saves on the year. But it was the 10 blown saves that the fans talked about.
One disaster after another. He was 1-4 with a 4.74 ERA, a full two runs higher than 2024 when he was with the Padres. After giving up 1 homer in 24, he was tagged for 11 in 25. His K to BB ratio was 3-1 which isn’t bad. It was just a bad year. He was left off of the roster for the Wild Card and was removed from the roster after game 3 of the LDS when he had a lower body abscess procedure.
If you read this blog every day, you know that the posters on here were leery of Scott being able to recapture his form from 24. Who would blame them? He was literally the gas that stoked the fire in several games.
It is easy to see that the Dodgers going out and signing a legitimate lock-down closer, Edwin Diaz, lit a fire under Scott. He came into camp knowing that the closers job belonged to Diaz. Did he complain? No, he refined his mechanics, just took the ball and proceeded to focus on getting better.
So far, the results have all been positive. He has walked just 3 batters in 23.2 innings and struck out 28. He has given up just 3 runs, and his ERA is 1.14. He is looking more and more like the pitcher he was for the Marlins and Padres in 24. Last night he recorded his 5th save.
He could not have timed his resurgence at a better time. With Diaz on the IL, it has been closer by committee. Clearly, Tanner is the Chairman of the committee. Diaz saved 4 before he was sidelined. Vesia 2, Klein, Hurt and Treinen are the other pitchers with saves. The bullpen has credit for 11 of the Dodgers 37 wins. They are responsible for 7 of the teams 20 losses.
Scott did not show this kind of form when he was with the Orioles. In five seasons with the Birds, he had just 1 save. He came into his own in Miami, refined his game in San Diego, lost it in LA and has seemingly got it back. Let us hope he can continue his upward trend. For the first time this season, Scott has a bad inning, and it looks like it might be his first blown save. I still have faith in him.
Big Hits from the Boys on the Farm
OKC Comets 9 – Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston) 1
OKC took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the 4th inning.
- 1st inning – RF Jack Suwinski solo HR (13). – 1-0
- 3rd inning – 2B Austin Gauthier singled, CF Zach Ehrhard drew a BB, DH James Tibbs III 3-run HR (16). 4-0
- 4th inning – SS Noah Miller walked, C Eliézer Alfonzo walked, 1B Seby Zavala 3-run HR (2). 7-0
30 year old LHSP Charlie Barnes’ first three innings were scoreless with just a double in the first inning. But in the 4th, Barnes allowed a one out double and a two out RBI single.
In the 5th, LF Tyler Fitzgerald and scored on a 2-out Miller double (7).
Barnes retired the side in order in the 5th, and left with an 8-1 lead.
OKC plated one more in the 6th. Gauthier walked and stole 2nd. With 2 outs, JTIII had an RBI single for his 4th RBI of the game.
LHRP Garrett McDaniels, RHRP Griff McGarry, and LHRP Antoine Kelly pitched the final 4 innings without giving up a run. They allowed 2 hits, 2 BB, with 6 K.
- James Tibbs III – 2-4, 1 BB, 1 run, 4 RBI, HR (16)
- Noah Miller – 2-3, 1 BB, 1 run, 1 RBI, double (7)
- Seby Zavala – 2-4, 1 run, 3 RBI, HR (2)
- Jack Suwinski – 1-5, 1 run, 1 RBI, HR (13)
Tulsa Drillers 11 – NW Arkansas Naturals (KC) 7
Tulsa went into the bottom of the 8th on the losing end of a 7-4 score. When the inning was over, Tulsa had an 11-7 lead going into the 9th.
In the 2nd inning, RHSP Patrick Copen walked the leadoff hitter who went to 3rd on a single, and scored on a DP.
In the bottom of the 3rd, RF Josue De Paula doubled (17) and scored on a 2-out RBI single from LF Zyhir Hope.
Copen allowed solo runs in the 4th and 5th inning. In the 4th, a single, BB, sac bunt, and sac fly gave the Naturals a 3-1 lead. In the 5th, a single and RBI double gave NWA a 3-1 lead.
In the bottom of the 5th, JDP hit a 1-out double followed by a BB to CF Mike Sirota. SS Elijah Hainline also walked to load the bases. Hope hit a sac fly and C Griffin Lockwood-Powell hit a 2-run double and a 4-3 lead.
Copen retired the side in order in the 6th. In the 7th he walked the leadoff hitter, and then gave up a run scoring double to tie the score. LHRP Evan Shaw came in to relieve Copen and struck out the next two batters to get out of the 7th.
In the 8th, LHRP Maddux Bruns struck out the side. Oh yeah, he also walked 2 and gave up a 3-run HR.
In the bottom of the 8th, GLP had a 1-out single, followed by walks to 3B Kyle Nevin and DH Chris Newell to load the bases. Bases loaded singles by 2B Jake Gelof and JDP, and a Mike Sirota BB scored 3 to tie the score. That brought up Hainline who slugged a grand slam (8) for the winning margin.
RHRP Cam Day pitched a scoreless 9th with 2 Ks to finish the game.
- Josue De Paula – 3-5, 3 runs, 1 RBI, 2 doubles (18)
- Zyhir Hope – 2-4, 2 RBI, double (8), Sac Fly
- Griffin Lockwood-Powell – 2-4, 2 RBI, double (8)
- Elijah Hainline – 1-2, 3 BB, 2 runs, 4 RBI, HR (8)
Dayton Dragons (Reds) 3 – Great Lakes Loons 2
The Loons score solo runs in the 2nd and 3rd. In the 2nd, 3B Eduardo Guerrero doubled (8), stole 2nd, and scored on the catcher’s throwing error.
In the 3rd, DH Eduardo Quintero doubled and scored on a RBI single by RF Jose Meza. That is all the Loons could generate on the night.
RHSP Brooks Auger gave up a leadoff triple in the 3rd who scored the Rawhide’s first run on a ground out.
In the 4th, Auger allowed a single, SB, and RBI single to tie the game. Auger got through 5.0 innings allowing the 2 runs, on 4 hits, 1 BB, and registered 7 K.
LHRP Jacob Frost pitched a scoreless 6th and 7th with 5 K. Unfortunately after he struck out the 1st two batters, he gave up a triple and WP for the go ahead and eventual winning run. 7 of the 9 outs recorded by Frost were strikeouts.
It was the triples that hurt GL pitching.
No Great Lakes batter had more than 1 hit.
Ontario Tower Buzzers 15 – Visalia Rawhide (Dbacks) 4
Ontario scored 15 runs on 14 hits. Five of those hits were HR.
But it was the Rawhide scored first. In the 1st inning, RHSP Cam Leiter gave up a BB, 2 singles, and a sac fly for a pair of runs. Leiter got the first out in the 3rd before being lifted for RHRP Ricardo Montero. With 2 outs, Montero hit a batter who stole 2 bases. The runner scored on a double giving the Rawhide a 3-1 lead.
But the Ontario bats came alive in the 4th. 3B Chase Harlan led off with a double (7) and scored on RF Ching-Hsien Ko’s RBI single. 1B Easton Shelton slugged a 2-run HR (12) for a 4-3 lead. After one out, C Anson Aroz singled and scored on a double (1) by 2B Javier Herrera. LF AJ Soldra hit a 2-run HR (5) to finish the scoring in the 4th.
In the 5th, Ko and DH Landyn Vidourek both drew 2-outs walk. Aroz followed with a 3-run HR (3).
RHRP Will Gagnon gave up a double, 2 walks, and a RBI single in the 6th before getting the inning ending DP.
In the 6th, CF Jaron Elkins singled and stole 2nd (18). SS Joendry Vargas hit a 2-run HR (5). With one out, back to back singles by Ko and Shelton and Aroz drew a BB to load the bases. Herrera and Aroz both drew run scoring walks. Elkins reached on catcher’s interference with another run scoring. The 5th run came home on a ground out.
RHRP Jholbran Herder and RHRP Angel Cruz pitched the final 3.2 scoreless innings.
- Ching-Hsien Ko – 3-3, 2 BB, 3 runs, 1 RBI, double (6)
- Jaron Elkins – 2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (8)
- Easton Shelton – 2-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (12)
- Anson Aroz – 2-3, 2 BB, 3 runs, 3 RBI, HR (3)
- Javier Herrera – 2-3, 2 BB, 1 run, 2 RBI, double (1), triple (2)
- HR’s by AJ Soldra (5) and Joendry Vargas (5).
ACL Guardians 8 – ACL Dodgers 6
- Catcher Eduardo Rojas was 3-4 (all singles) with 2 runs scored.
- RH Abel Lorenzo was 2-3 with a BB, scoring 1 run and knocking in 2. Lorenzo hit his 5th double.
- 2B Daniel Mielcarek was 2-4 with a run scored.
- SS Aidan West was 1-4 with a 2 RBI triple (2).
More from Dodger Talk
Dodgers Food Trailer
I did this interview a couple of weeks ago with Chef Mike, who runs the Dodgers Food Trailer for the Great Lakes Loons. They are there for every home and road regular season and playoff game. They prepare three meals a day for approximately 50 people (players and coaches). Since games end late most evenings, they do not prepare breakfast. Many of their hotels have a complimentary breakfast anyway. However,…
Meet LAD 2026 Draft Picks 1-12
3 picks were High School players (2 SS and 1 OF). There was a college OF, college catcher, college SS, and 10 college pitchers. Of all the talk for a need for a catcher, the only catcher the Dodgers selected was Luke Bard, son of LAD bullpen coach Josh Bard. Bard was a 4th year senior from Houston Christian University. He is not a prospect, so the Dodgers are still…
Interview with Paul Beachy – Team Bus Driver For The Great Lakes Loons (LA Dodgers Minor League Team)
It’s been a few days since I did this interview. We have evidently been working my son-in-law (the video guy) like a rented mule at US Water Systems. However, I am taking him to London with me in a few days, so maybe Watford will buy him a pint as a tip, but he’s a dang Red Sox fan, so there is that! I thought that it would be interesting…
Thanks for Your Service: Chris Taylor
I was going to do this post when Chris announced he was retiring, then he changed his mind, but since the chances of him ever playing for the Dodgers again are slim and non-existent, I will go ahead with this post. He unretired, went on the IL, then decided to call it quits on May 24th. Taylor was born in Virginia Beach VA on August 29th, 1990. He attended Great…
Discussion (71)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Hope you enjoy it for many years.
Congrats to Ryan Ward. So happy for the young man. He looks like he can hold down LF. Made a nice running catch.
Smart move by him to HR when given a start. The team really likes Call so take advantage of your opportunities.
Its definitely an audition for 29 other teams for Ward. Go get it!
One of the first short player I was aware of was Abie Pearson an Angels outfielder. I remember being young and getting his baseball card and being blown away by his size. For whatever reason my mind just thought of him.
If he keeps homering, then we can trade him straight up for Scubal
… and I am Brad Pitt!
Cheers
Tucker hasn’t been good but it also seems like when he hits one hard it’s right at someone. He’s also been the guy on the wrong side of getting robbed by the defense more than anyone on the team. Dusty Baker was quite bad his first year with the Dodgers and that turned out okay. Tucker seems to be loosening up around his teammates. He’s showing more emotion. He will come out of it at some point.
Good Ardaya article on Sasaki’s returned velo, the BP that Bear alluded to wrt Tucker and River Ryans short and medium term horizon. Also, BP has all of the Minor league content aggregated: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7322620/2026/05/31/dodgers-roki-sasaki-kyle-tucker/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.m1A.VnO1.19xzVtFaSNBx https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/affiliate.cgi?id=LAD&year=2026
Orel just won’t shut up. He is as irritating as they get.
Use the W. C. Fields method. First, address the ball………….Hello Ball!
Right up there with Jason Schmidt as one of the worst signings in Dodger free agent history.
Same here. Gotta find a way to get my MP-3 player to work with the radio though. No Aux jack. Need my tunes.
Or more like Benjamin Button
Enough with the Skubal stuff. LA does not need another 30 plus million-dollar pitcher. Especially a guy entering his 30’s. TJ surgery waiting to happen, and sorry, he is going to cost a bunch in players and money, and with the 27 season possibly starting late due to a lockout, he just is not worth the investment in players and money.
I saw him play when he was with the Angels. Went to a game at old Wrigley in LA when they played the Tigers. Tigers had Kaline, Cash, and Vic Wertz. The guy who hit the ball in the 54 series that Mays caught. Wertz homered over the center field fence. Pearson looked so small out there.
Nice game all around. Finally, some run support for Yoshi. He had too many deep counts but still managed to go 5.1 with 10 Ks. Phillies offense looks discombobulated. Ohtani with a couple of ropes to right. He starts hitting those in the air, the homers will come in bunches. Congrats to Freeland and Ward on very good games. Love Call, the guy is a gamer. Padres lost 4-2 to Nats. Now 5.5 games back and fading.
I agree with Bear above, put the Skuball trade to bed not worth the players and money. Dodgers have a surplus of young pitchers.
River Ryan looks like he could be a real stud. I loved watching him pitch when he first came up. Kid has some really nasty stuff. Guys like Miller appear to have been a flash in the pan. Miller never has come close to matching his rookie year and now is injured. Let’s get a little youth in the staff because in a couple of years, Ohtani and Yoshi will be the two grizzly vets.
We have too many Hernandez’!