SAN DIEGO – After a season in which he claimed baseball hates him, Tanner Scott reviewed all that went wrong. The first year of a four-year, $72 million deal he signed to be the Los Angeles Dodgers’ closer qualified as a disaster. Scott did not throw a single pitch during the postseason as the Dodgers repeated as World Series champions, which provided plenty of time for reflection and a simple evaluation.“I sucked,” Scott said. “I mean, plain and simple.”Answering the “why” is both clear-cut and complicated. He did not execute well enough with two strikes or when ahead in the count, allowing as many home runs in those situations (six) as he had total homers in any situation over the previous two seasons combined. His mechanics were a mess at times. Scott left too many pitches over the plate at inopportune times.At a low point last September in Baltimore, Scott surrendered a walk-off blast to Samuel Basallo on (you guessed it) a two-strike count. Scott’s assessment that night was that “baseball hates me.” He then proceeded to get walked off the next night, and again a week later.Now, he is holding baseball’s hottest bullpen together. Dodgers relievers have not allowed a run in 29 consecutive innings, the franchise’s longest streak since at least 1998. This has come without Edwin Díaz, whom the Dodgers gave $69 million and Scott’s closer role to this offseason, and who is recovering from elbow surgery.“He’s been a very important, stabilizing force,” pitching coach Mark Prior said of Scott, who has a 1.37 ERA through 21 appearances and looks like the guy the Dodgers thought they signed two offseasons ago.Having Scott back to himself, manager Dave Roberts said, “has helped us out big.”So much of the story with Scott comes with what happens when the reliever gets to two strikes. No pitcher in baseball has enticed hitters to chase this season at a higher rate. A year ago, Scott’s chase rate ranked in the 99th percentile according to Baseball Savant. His stuff can be overpowering, as long as it does not leak back over the heart of the plate. That’s what happened far too often last season.