Tanner Scott


Tanner Alexander Scott is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.

Career

Scott graduated from Howland High School in 2012. He then played college baseball at Notre Dame College in 2013 and Howard College in 2014. After the 2014 season, he briefly played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.
After signing, Scott made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Orioles and spent the whole season there, going 1-5 with a 6.26 ERA in ten games. In 2015, Scott pitched for both the Aberdeen IronBirds and Delmarva Shorebirds, where he posted a combined 4-3 record and 3.83 ERA in 42.1 innings pitched between the two clubs. After the season, he pitched in the Arizona Fall League. Scott spent 2016 with both the Frederick Keys and the Bowie Baysox, where he went 5-4 with a 4.76 ERA in 43 relief appearances between the two teams. In 2017, he played with Bowie where he compiled a 0-2 record and 2.22 ERA in 24 starts before being called up to the major leagues on September 17, 2017. Scott made two appearances for Baltimore for the season.

2018

Scott worked regular one-inning stints for the Orioles during spring season, creating speculation that the Orioles No. 6 prospect could pitch his way onto the major league roster early. The plan, however, was for Scott to pitch three-inning stints as a starter in five-man rotation for the Norfolk Tides. Orioles manager Buck Showalter says of the decision:
Scott's been learning control on his fast ball, while developing his slider as an out pitch. As Schowalter notes, "he's not tripping that 100 or anything. It's more about control of himself as much as the baseball." Of pulling back on the velocity of his "high-90s" fastball in favor of location, Scott says:
After pitching out of the bullpen in Triple-A Norfolk's opening game on April 6, 2018, Scott was called up again on April 8, 2018 to join the Orioles bullpen — just as Jimmy Yacabonis was optioned to Norfolk. Showalter said on Scott's return:
Scott was optioned back to Norfolk on April 9, after pitching 1.2 innings against the Yankees the day before — when he recorded five outs. He was recalled on April 20 prior to a Friday game against the Cleveland Indians. Infielder Engelb Vielma was optioned back to Norfolk in a corresponding move. Scott pitched two scoreless innings against the Indians the next day before being optioned once again on April 28. Baltimore recalled him on May 9. The up/down process continued on June 9th when the O's sent Scott down only to recall him on June 15th.
In 53 appearances in the season, Scott worked in innings, striking out 76 in the process.