When it comes to the Los Angeles Dodgers' struggles in 2025, no one is down worse than Tanner Scott.
A well-traveled veteran closer with some pretty incredible highlights on his resume, the Dodgers signed Scott away from the San Diego Padres to be their guy moving forward, but so far, his late-game efforts have been anything but ace stuff, with the 31-year-old declaring that “baseball hates me” and that this has been the “worst year of my life” due to his bevy of blown saves.
While fans understandably aren't too high on Scott or want to see him get in any high-leverage games any time soon, one person who believes he's taking too much of the blame is new catcher Ben Rortvedt, who has been on the other side of many of his recent outings.
Discussing Scott's struggles after the Dodgers' Game 1 loss to the Giants, Rortvedt took blame for calling some of the pitches that opposing hitters have been bashing, noting that he has to do a better job, too.
“Honestly – man, this is tough. I feel a responsibility for some of these on Tanner, because I'm the one catching and calling it. I mean, you can go back and look at it. No one's supposed to hit that pitch. Really, no one's supposed to hit that pitch. That's a good fastball. Really went down with the pitch before, had his eyes down,” Rortvedt said via Dodgers Nation.
“His at-bat before, he punched on three heaters that weren't that high. So like I said, I feel responsible for some of these late in the innings, so I feel pretty bad. But we just got to keep showing up, keep competing. Tanner is a great pitcher. He's gonna get through this, and we all have his back.”
Now granted, is Rortvedt really to blame for some of the balls Scott has thrown, especially when pitchers like Tyler Glasnow have been celebrating the new catcher for his effective play? It's hard to say, but it's clear very little is working for Scott, regardless of who is catching his balls, so something has to change if he's going to be called on in high-leverage moments in the postseason.
