TANNER SCOTT

Position(s): Left-handed pitcher Age: 30 Bats / Throws: Right / Left Height / Weight: 6-foot / 235 pounds How acquired: Via traded with the Miami Marlins in July 2024 2024 salary: Earned $5.7 million in his last year or arbitration-eligibility Key 2024 stats: 9-6, 1.75 ERA, 22 saves, 84 strikeouts, 36 walks, 1.13 WHIP, .179 opponent avg., 72 innings (72 appearances)

STAT TO NOTE

84.3 — The average opponent exit velocity against Scott in 2024, the best in the majors. The soft contact allowed Scott to finish in the top-1 percent among all pitchers in hard-hit rate (27.5), in the top-3 percent in expected opponent slugging (.296) and in the top-10 percent in expected batting average (.202), weighted on-base average (.241) and expected weighted on-base average (.269).

TRENDING

Up — A sixth-round pick of the Orioles in 2014, Scott debuted in Baltimore’s bullpen in 2017, was traded to the Marlins in April 2022 and had saved 50 games over parts of three seasons when he was traded to the Padres at the deadline. A first-time All-Star in the midst of a career year, Scott fetched quite a prospect haul as a three-month rental: left-hander Robby Snelling, right-hander Adam Mazur and infielders Graham Pauley and Jay Beshears (the Padres also received Bryan Hoeing, who won’t be a free agent until 2029). Because the Padres already had an All-Star closer in Robert Suarez, Scott was largely used in a set-up role as he earned saves in just four of his 28 regular-season appearances (2.73 ERA) after the trade. That didn’t mean he was any less valuable as he was murder on lefties (.415 OPS), very good on righties (.569 OPS) and regularly deployed as an integral leg of the Padres’ victory formation alongside Jason Adam and Suarez. Scott was at his best in the playoffs, striking out five batters and allowing just three base runners over three scoreless innings. That success, along with his ability to quiet the game’s best left-handed hitters — Shohei Ohtani, for instance, is 1-for-9 against him in the regular season — should make Scott the highest-paid reliever this offseason.