I did not think it would take signing Edwin Diaz for Tanner Scott to become a great closer again.
Not that he was bad last year, but around midway through, things hit a snag. 23 saves is all well and good, but he kept blowing them, and ended the year with a 4.74 ERA and a -0.6 WAR. Yes, he still won a ring, but he saw no playoff time with the Dodgers because the team was too scared to actually use its bullpen, so they had like 4 other starters do all the relief work, gaming the system. Scott, at his peak with Miami, was one of the most effective relief pitchers in the game. To be perfectly honest, him not always succeeding as a closer isn't really a knock on him, as he's arguably just better as a setup man. Those 23 saves he got last season while tanking were a career high for him, so I think being a better closer involves not doing all the things that make him a great reliever. It's kind of screwed up.
So moving Scott back to a setup role wasn't exactly a death sentence, and to be fair it worked alright for Blake Treinen. But then Edwin Diaz absolutely flounders in LA, leaving the ninth open and plenty of opportunities for Scott to save games. So he's been a ton better this year, with a 2.24 ERA, 19 saves and 64 Ks. He feels elite again, and he's stayed extremely consistent. Being surrounded by Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez, Alex Vesia and Brock Stewart also helps, as they've all been fantastic in relief roles.
For the Dodgers, the return of Tyler Glasnow means the overpopulation of the rotation is once again a factor, because nowYamamoto, Skubal, Snell and Glasnow are non-negotiable, and it's down to either Roki Sasaki, who's not terrific but still good enough, and Eric Lauer, who asked to be traded from Toronto due to being made to do long relief appearances, for that last spot. AND at some point Shohei Ohtani is expected to start games again, so that'll make it even more crowded. I really do think going for a skeleton crew formation for now, emphasizing Yamamoto, Snell, Skubal and Glasnow, and priming the other two for relief roles in the playoffs, is the way. That way if Ohtani is ready to start again by the postseason, at worst that means you'd be using Glasnow in long relief as well, and that's...still pretty nice, despite how shaky Glasnow's seemed tonight.
The Dodgers have won six straight after a messy mid-August, but these six have been against the Rockies and Pirates. This week is the Braves, who are still quite good, and the Tigers who are really sneaky and are looking good against the Rays right now. From there they play a lot of teams that could be spoilers, from the Nats to the Marlins to the Reds. The Dodgers want that top seed, or at least enough security and momentum to make October as easy as the last two, and without Shohei Ohtani's usual batting dominance [he's ONLY hitting .288 with ONLY 30 homers and 80 RBIs, the madman], the team will need to try harder than usual. It's looking trickier now that Andy Pages is hurt and both catchers are still out for another week, but they're trying everything. Alek Thomas is now starting in center, giving the outfield a combined WAR of 0.0. Kyle Tucker might be an albatross around this team's neck if he doesn't start hitting, because at least Bobby Abreu would do some hitting when you signed him. Tucker has a .689 OPS. Miguel Rojas, who's about to retire and manage somebody probably, has a .720. Ye gods.
I'm not as mad as I am at the Astros that the team's still a frontrunner, because there's so much that's elite about this team, the runs have no problem getting scored and the depth is there, I just don't think they're the best team in baseball right now. The Dodgers might be playing more defense standings-wise than they're used to this year, and they'll need to really dial in if they want that threepeat, because right now there's one or two teams that might want the NL more.
Coming Tomorrow- A man that is all torso, all neck and all business.
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