2025 Fantasy Baseball: Los Angeles Dodgers Closer Depth Chart
The Dodgers bullpen has depth in closing options. The fantasy battle for saves is between Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates.
Tanner Scott vs. Shohei in the 2024 Postseason. pic.twitter.com/I8rrYn9VgZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) January 19, 2025
CL – Tanner Scott, LAD (ADP – 142.4)
Over the past two seasons, Scott had tremendous growth in his first-pitch strike rate (69.4% in 2023, 67.3% in 2024, and 54.1% from 2019 to 2022). His improved command led to batters hitting .186 against him over this previous 150.0 innings.
Scott still had weakness in his walk rate (4.5) in 2024 due to issuing 16 free passes over his first 16 innings (2.25 ERA, 16 strikeouts, and four saves). Over his final 56.0 innings, he went 8-2 with a 1.61 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 68 strikeouts, and 18 saves while improving his walk rate (3.2). Scott allowed only six home runs over the last two seasons.
His average fastball (97.2) was his highest since 2018. Scott upped the usage (59.6%) of his four-seamer (.130 BAA) last year while almost exclusively throwing a slider (.226 BAA) as his second pitch. Twenty-three of his 36 walks came off his fastball.
Fantasy Outlook: The Dodgers signed Scott to a $72 million contract for four seasons in mid-January. Over the past three seasons, he secured 54 saves in 67 tries. The growth in his skill set is enticing, but there will be stretches of wildness. At the very least, Scott should offer winning stats in ERA and strikeouts while picking up 30 combined wins and saves.
Kirby Yates, K'ing the Side in the 9th. pic.twitter.com/zGYjfjm1eT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 6, 2024
CL – Kirby Yates, LAD (ADP – 123.6)
The Dodgers signed Yates to a one-year deal for $13 million in January after an excellent season closing for the Texas Rangers (33 saves in 34 chances). He’ll turn 38 in March, and Los Angeles has plenty of competition to finish games in 2025.
Yates opened last season with five shutout innings and five strikeouts before getting his first successful save opportunity. By May 5th (no runs, three hits, five walks, and 16 strikeouts), the closing job for the Rangers was his to lose. He never allowed more than one run in any game, and his only blow save came on August 18th.
His average fastball (93.4) aligned with his previous four seasons. Yates worked off a four-seamer (.111 BAA) and split-finger fastball (.113 BAA) while dominating righties (.137 BAA) and lefties (.081 BAA). Batters only hit .140 against him over the past two seasons. His success could have been even better if Yates hadn’t walked 4.1 batters per nine (3.6 in his career).
Fantasy Outlook: The Dodgers won 98 games in 2024 while outscoring their opponents by 156 runs. As a result, their relievers had 50 saves (44 in 2023 and 43 in 2022). Los Angeles has four other relievers with saves on their resume.
Yates will battle Tanner Scott for closing chances, lowering his fantasy value. Dave Roberts suggested in early February that Scott would be the early favorite for saves in their bullpen. The high-stakes market in the NFBC had Yates ranked Yates above Scott before this update. I’ll go with co-closers in LA, giving Yates a chance at low 20s in saves. The debate for drafters is between more saves or good innings with some saves.
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With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.