Tanner Scott trusted the process with the Miami Marlins. Now, he’s an All-Star

Tanner Scott came to the Miami Marlins ahead of the 2022 season with oodles of talent but a lack of command to properly showcase that talent.

In two-and-a-half seasons, he has evolved into one of MLB’s top high-leverage relievers.

And now, he’s an All-Star.

Scott will represent the Marlins at the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, the league announced on Sunday. The All-Star Game is on July 16, less than a week before Scott’s 30th birthday, in Arlington, Texas.

“It was awesome to hear it,” said Scott, whose wife Maddie and 9-month-old son Bo were with him when the Marlins told him pregame Sunday he was an All-Star. “To have everyone come up to me, it was pretty special.”

Scott entered Sunday with 13 saves in 15 opportunities to go along with a 1.42 ERA, .142 batting average against and .198 batting average on balls in play. His batting average against entering Sunday was the third best in MLB among relievers with at least 30 appearances behind only the Texas Rangers’ Kirby Yares (.126) and Milwaukee Brewers’ Bryan Hudson (.140). His ERA was eighth among that group behind Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase (0.65), Yates (0.86), Hudson (1.17), the Philadelphia Phillies’ Jeff Hoffman (1.21), Cleveland’s Hunter Gaddis (1.31), Philadelphia’s Orion Kerkering (1.38) and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Alex Vesia (1.40).

According to Statcast, he is among the MLB leaders in average exit velocity against (100th percentile, 83.3 mph), expected batting average against (97th percentile, .188), hard-hit rate against (96th percentile, 29.2 percent) and average fastball velocity (90th percentile, 96.7 mph).

This is coming after a 2022 season in which Scott set career-best marks for appearances (74), innings (78) and strikeouts (104). His 2.31 ERA and .191 batting average against were also the best in his career outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season (1.31 ERA, .164 batting average against) when he only pitched 20 2/3 innings.

“You feel really good that when he’s going in, the game’s over,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who added that he puts Scott in the same conversation as the likes of Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Yates. “Last year, we started putting him in the highest leverage pockets, whether it was the seventh, eighth or ninth inning because we felt like he was our best guy and we could lose the game in the seventh and eighth just as well as the ninth. There’s no question in my mind he’s our best guy — and not only our best guy, but I think he’s in the conversation for the best in the league.”

But that talent wasn’t always on full display, although the Marlins knew it was there.

When the Marlins acquired Scott in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles days before the start of the 2022 season, he had a career 4.73 ERA over 170 appearances over five big-league seasons, all with Baltimore. He had big swing-and-miss stuff, evidenced by his 35.5-percent whiff rate, but command was an issue, evidenced by his 13.6-percent walk rate.

He went through his lumps in 2022 — with a 4.31 ERA and 15.9-percent walk rate but with 20 saves in 27 chances after being moved to closer role — before finally starting to flourish over the past two seasons.

“The confidence built and before you know it, he was in and out of at-bats, throwing strikes, getting his strikeouts,” Marlins pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. said during spring training. “It was like a domino effect. It just started falling into play. It was an absolutely beautiful thing. If you asked me to draw that out for the next guy and think that he’s going to follow that path, I wish I had that magical formula in here. I’d hand it to everyone.”

To Scott, the confidence came from the support of Stottlemyre and Schumaker, which has allowed him to feel more free on the mound to just “go out and attack.”

“Since day one, he’s been he’s been a great, great manager,” Scott said of Schumaker. “And it’s been it’s been awesome to play for him. Everyone wants to play for that guy. He wants to win. You see it.”

Added Schumaker: “Ever since I’ve been here, he’s been an All-Star. That’s that’s all I can tell you about Tanner is since I have been here, he’s been an All-Star. That’s what I’ve seen. On and off the field, work ethic, how he’s been a leader in that bullpen. In the past, you heard [that he’s] not reliable and you didn’t know if he was a high-leverage guy. Now he’s the most high-leverage guy on our team and in my opinion, at the very least a top-five reliever in the game. I’m really proud of him. It shows you what hard work can do because he flipped the script in his career. He’s now an All-Star and no one can ever take that away from him.”