Dodgers Want Kirby Yates To Gain 'Confidence' & 'Find Himself'

"The Los Angeles Dodgers made many notable signings during the offseason, and they concluded it by adding the two relievers who were believed to be the best available options on the free agent market in Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates. Scott signed a four-year, $72 million contract after establishing himself as one of the top closers in baseball, while Yates joined the Dodgers on a one-year deal worth $13 million after an All-Star campaign. But neither contract has worked out all that well for the Dodgers."

"Scott holds a 4.47 ERA across 50.1 innings, and he's blown nine save opportunities in 30 chances. Meanwhile, Yates has pitched to a 4.82 ERA over 37.1 innings, and he's already allowed eight home runs, which is five more than last season in 24.1 fewer innings."

"As the Dodgers search for their best bullpen combination and look to get some of their relievers back on track, Yates took the mound Tuesday night with a 7-1 lead over the Colorado Rockies. After recording two outs in the ninth inning, the home run issue bit Yates again, and he followed that up by allowing a hard double before finishing the game. "It's important just for him to get the confidence," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I think however many pitches he threw, most of them were quality pitches. He tried to go up and in to Goodman, left it down and gave up the homer. So I think for me, looking at the outing in totality, just feel there were a lot more good throws than bad throws. "But yeah, happy we get the win, but he's trying to find himself and get those feels so he can be as effective as he needs to be for us.""

Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates were signed to sizable deals but have underperformed. Scott has a 4.47 ERA in 50.1 innings with nine blown saves in 30 chances. Yates has a 4.82 ERA in 37.1 innings and has allowed eight home runs, five more than last season despite 24.1 fewer innings. Yates owns a 6.53 ERA in his last seven outings and has allowed five runs in six innings since returning from the injured list, surrendering two homers. Yates has struggled to reproduce the effectiveness of his splitter, reducing ground-ball outs.

Read at Dodger Blue