Sports
How Tanner Scott went from 'revolving door' to marquee Dodgers free-agent signing
PHOENIX — As Tanner Scott walked off the plane, Evan Phillips was waiting to board.
This was late June 2019, when Scott and Phillips were in the early stages of their MLB careers. At the time, each was trying to establish themselves as big-league talents. But both watched flashes of potential get overshadowed by inconsistent overall performance.
On bad Baltimore Orioles teams focused more on rebuilding their roster, it made both pitchers victims of regular roster shuffles. During 2018 and 2019 alone, they were optioned to the minors a combined 17 times.
“The revolving door,” Scott quipped. “It was not a fun one.”
On this day, that turnstile created a chance encounter in the Seattle airport. Scott, a hard-throwing left-hander battling command issues, had gotten a call-up to join the team during a road series against the Mariners. Phillips, who profiled similarly from the right side of the mound, was being sent down along with another Orioles player.
By chance, the plane that brought Scott from Baltimore’s triple-A affiliate in Norfolk, Va., was the same one operating Phillips’ flight back to the minor leagues. In the gate area, the two literally passed each other when Scott walked out of the jetway.
“I remember seeing him and I was like, ‘Ugh,’” Scott recalled, having grown close with Phillips during their time in the organization. “I mean, you’re happy to see your friend. But you’re also like, ‘Dang, it’s those guys who are in the revolving door.’”
Phillips’ reaction?
“I gave him a little high-five,” he joked, “and said, ‘Good luck!’”
Six years — and a remarkable amount of personal improvement from each — later, Scott and Phillips could still vividly recall the moment in the Dodgers’ clubhouse last week, using it as an example to illustrate how far they’ve come.
In Baltimore, the two were fringe big-leaguers just looking for opportunity. Now, after Phillips’ rise with the Dodgers and Scott’s four-year, $72 million signing with the team this offseason, they are teammates again on a juggernaut Dodgers roster, expected to serve key late-innings roles as two of the sport’s best current relief arms.
“It was not a fun [situation],” Scott said, reflecting back on their shared time in Baltimore. “But you’ve got to appreciate the journey you’ve been on.”
Dodgers fans are plenty familiar with Phillips’ journey, having watched the 30-year-old veteran blossom with the club to the tune of a 2.28 ERA and 44 saves over the last four seasons.
Scott, also 30, arrives in Los Angeles having experienced a similar ascension, transforming over the last two years into a shutdown late-game option thanks to a 2.04 ERA and 34 saves with the Miami Marlins and San Diego Padres.
“He’s someone that we have watched and admired from afar over the years and have tried to acquire multiple times,” general manager Brandon Gomes said at Scott’s introductory news conference this offseason. “Tanner possesses all of the qualities we value as an organization when looking to bring on a free agent.”
Scott was not always so coveted.
An Ohio native and sixth-round pick in 2014 out of tiny Howard College in West Texas, the 6-foot southpaw has long wowed scouts with his upper-90s mph and swing-and-miss slider. During his first five MLB seasons with Baltimore from 2017 to 2021, he showcased his premium stuff by racking up 208 strikeouts in his first 156 innings in the majors.
The problem, at that stage, was his command.
In that same period, Scott issued 96 walks and found the strike zone on just 44% of his pitches. After a promising performance in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he posted a 1.31 ERA and gave up just 12 hits over 20 ⅔ innings, he regressed in 2021, posting the fifth-worst walk rate among qualified MLB relievers (14.7%). When he was traded to the Marlins the following offseason, his career ERA was 4.73.
“I was always just trying to stay [in the majors],” Scott said.
In Miami, Scott started to turn a corner. Under the tutelage of veteran Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., he cut down on his walks and found confidence attacking the strike zone. In June 2022, he began getting opportunities as the club’s closer, collecting 20 saves that season and 12 more during the Marlins’ surprise run to playoffs in 2023, when he also posted a 2.31 ERA (best in his career for a full season).
Then, last year, he finally unlocked the full potential of his arsenal.
During the season’s first four months, Scott posted a 1.18 ERA and earned his first career All-Star selection. At the trade deadline, he was sent to the San Diego Padres in a blockbuster deal, helping them make the playoffs and push the Dodgers to the brink of elimination in the National League Division Series.
“The fear in the batter’s box against him is certainly real,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Scott, who pitched three scoreless innings in the NLDS and memorably struck out Shohei Ohtani all four times he faced him.
“I’m happy he’s on our side 1741133474,” Roberts added, comparing the quiet, bearded pitcher to an “assassin” on the mound.
Before landing in San Diego last year, the Dodgers made a push to acquire Scott themselves; coming “pretty close” to a deal with the Marlins at the deadline, according to Gomes, before the Padres swooped in.
This winter, the Dodgers made sure not to miss again. When Scott became a free agent, he said the Dodgers were the first team that reached out. And after small tastes of the postseason the past two Octobers, he craved the opportunity to join the defending World Series champions.
“I mean, you look at the lineup, you look at the pitching staff, it’s gonna be fun,” Scott said. “They do a lot of things the right way.”
In recent seasons, one part of the Dodgers’ way has been a closer-by-committee approach. And while Scott will get the “brunt” of save opportunities now, Roberts said he hasn’t been designated as the closer yet, with the Dodgers also viewing Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Kopech and others as ninth-inning options
Asked about that dynamic this week, Scott said he was on board with however the Dodgers choose to use him. Remembering the revolving door (and chance airport encounters) he endured in Baltimore, he said he’s simply happy to pitch “whenever my name is called.”
“It was tough, but you gotta enjoy the process,” Scott said. “Because it makes you who you are.”
For years, Stephen A. Smith’s many football blunders have been easy enough to explain away.
He’s not an NFL guy (remember when he said the three key players for a game were three guys who weren’t playing in the game?)
Stephen A. Smith falsely claimed the Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since 2022, but Golden State reached the second round in both 2023 and 2025. (Jerome Miron/Imagn Images)
He’s definitely not a college football guy (remember when he called Jalen Milroe Jalen “Milroy” multiple times and then read the wrong stat line after a College Football Playoff game?).
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ESPN forces him into those conversations because First Take has to talk football, and Smith knows that football is the most popular sport in the country and he needs to be seen as an authority (even though he isn’t).
But Monday’s latest mistake is a lot tougher to excuse, because this time Smith wasn’t talking about the NFL or college football. He was talking about the Golden State Warriors, one of the defining NBA dynasties of the last decade.
In other words, he was talking about the sport and the league that’s supposed to be his bread and butter.
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While discussing whether Steve Kerr has coached his last game with Golden State, Smith confidently stated the Warriors “haven’t been back to the playoffs since that championship in 2022.”
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr looks on during a game against the Sacramento Kings. (Robert Edwards/Imagn Images)
That’s not even close to true. Not only did Golden State make the playoffs last season, but they also reached the postseason in 2023. Last year, the Warriors made the playoffs, beat the Rockets in seven games and advanced to the second round before losing to the Timberwolves. In 2023, they beat the Sacramento Kings in the first round and before losing to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
So, Smith wouldn’t even have been right if he said they haven’t won a playoff series since 2022. But he didn’t say that. He said they didn’t make the playoffs in any of the past four years, except they did it twice.
Yikes.
This is not an obscure piece of NBA trivia that Smith could be easily forgiven for not knowing. Perhaps he was too busy playing solitaire on his phone and just missed two of the past three NBA postseasons. That’s a tough look for the guy who fancies himself as the No. 1 NBA analyst in the country.
And it’s a terrible look for ESPN, as they keep selling Smith as one of the faces of their NBA coverage.
Stephen A. Smith made a brutal gaffe while talking Warriors playoff history
If Smith made this kind of mistake while talking about the NFL, nobody would be shocked. At this point, sports fans practically expect him to butcher football analysis. It’s almost endearing that a guy with the ego of Smith can be so consistently wrong while also delivering every “fact” with the utmost confidence. It’s part of the Stephen A. experience.
But this one hits differently because the NBA is where he’s supposed to at least know the basics. This is where Smith prides himself as being an authority figure.
Stephen A. Smith incorrectly stated the Golden State Warriors haven’t made the playoffs since their 2022 championship, despite the team reaching the postseason twice since then. (Candice Ward/Imagn Images)
And yet he couldn’t keep the recent playoff history of the Warriors straight. The team whose head coach is in the news every other week. The team that has won four championships since 2014. Arguably one of the most important franchises in the NBA over the past 15 years.
Yes, Golden State missed the playoffs in 2024 after getting bounced in the Play-In Tournament (although they won 46 games that season). And yes, it fell short again this season. But that’s a lot different from acting like Steve Kerr has spent four years wandering the basketball wilderness since winning that 2022 title.
He hasn’t. In fact, the team is 175-153 in the past four regular seasons.
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The Warriors made the second round in 2023. They made the second round again in 2025.
Before burying Steve Kerr on national television, maybe Stephen A. Smith could take 10 seconds to confirm whether the Warriors were actually, you know, in the playoffs.
A legendary NFL coach found linebacker Rod Martin not by scouting him at USC, but almost by accident.
The Oakland Raiders had a throwaway 12th-round pick in the 1977 draft, and then-coach John Madden grew frustrated hearing his personnel executives contemplate using it on a basketball player or track guy. Finally, Madden blurted out that he could find a random kid walking around the USC campus in sandals who could make more of an impact than that.
“Ron Wolf says, ‘All right, smart guy,’” recalled Madden’s son, Mike. “So they were a couple picks away and dad goes, ‘Let me call [USC coach] John Robinson.’”
Robinson had one question: Has Rod Martin been drafted?
Raiders linebacker Rod Martin stands on the field during a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 6, 1987, at the Coliseum.
(Mike Powell / Getty Images)
“Dad goes, ‘What position does he play?’” the younger Madden said. “Robinson tells him Martin is a linebacker, and dad goes, ‘Good. Tough guy we can knock around in training camp. Have him run down on kicks.’ And Robinson says, ‘No, John. Rod Martin will make your team.’”
Martin did a lot more than make the team. He would go on to set a Super Bowl record with three interceptions in one of the most dominant defensive performances in championship history.
Martin, who would play his entire 12-year career with the Oakland then Los Angeles Raiders, is dead at age 72. The Raiders announced his death Monday but did not specify a cause of death.
“The Raiders family is deeply saddened by the passing of Rod Martin, a standout linebacker and key player on two Super Bowl championship teams,” read a team statement.
The franchise called Martin, “a beloved member of the Raiders Family and a favorite of Raiders fans everywhere.”
A two-time Super Bowl winner and a two-time Pro Bowl selection, Martin saved his best game for the biggest stage. In Super Bowl XV at the Louisiana Superdome, he intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski three times in a 27-10 Raiders victory.
“What I remember about Rod was his ability to diagnose and react,” Jaworski said by phone Monday. “In the Super Bowl, he makes two phenomenal plays. He has three interceptions, but interceptions one and two — I’d like to say they were bad decisions on my part. They weren’t. I tried to squeeze throws in. He just made a great play. He was a great athlete.”
Three years later, Martin was still a key component to the Raiders’ defense in a Super Bowl victory over Washington. He had a sack of quarterback Joe Theismann, a fumble recovery, and a fourth-and-one stop of John Riggins late in the third quarter of a 38-9 blowout.
Born in Welch, W. Va., the son of a coal miner grew up in Los Angeles and attended Hamilton High before going on to play at Los Angeles City College and USC. The NFL saw him as a tweener, too small for linebacker at 210 pounds and too slow to play safety. Clearly, that was a faulty assessment.
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon was two years behind Martin at Hamilton, and the two remained friends throughout the decades that followed.
“We met when I was a sophomore,” Moon said. “He was a senior — middle linebacker, fullback and center on the basketball team. He was the ultimate athlete. At the time I was there, I looked up to him quite a lot.
“He wasn’t the biggest guy in the world, but he was big enough. He had the strongest hands and the strongest forearms. He could just take a tight end or whoever came to block him, grab his pads, shove him off and go make the play. He was just a real solid player.”
It was those hands that grabbed an opportunity with the Raiders and didn’t let go.
“So dad goes marching into the draft room,” Madden said, “looks at Ron and everybody else and says, ‘We’re going to take Rod Martin, linebacker, USC.’ And they did.”
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New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft.
Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer.
Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds.
The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”
“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read.
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.
“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”
Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)
Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.
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His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
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