How much of Tanner Scott's 2021 season was derailed by injury?

He is the lefty reliever with the power arm, but inconsistent control and command. We've seen him look like the best reliever in the league and also one that had no idea where the ball is going.

But while he put together some really strong numbers during the shortened 2020 season, southpaw Tanner Scott struggled late in the 2021 season. There may have been an easy explanation for that, but until we see more of him in 2022, we just don't know for sure.

In 2020 - and, yes, it was over just 20 2/3 innings - Scott went 0-0 with a 1.31 ERA and 1.065 WHIP. Last summer, he pitched 54 innings, going 5-4 with an ERA of 5.17 and 1.574 WHIP. He allowed 8.0 hits per nine and 1.0 homers with a walk rate of 6.2 and strikeout rate of 11.7.

But Scott spent two stints on the injured list last season due to a left knee sprain. It ended his season on Sept. 14, and before that, he didn't pitch from Aug. 1-11. It was a factor and the stats look bad the longer the year went on.

In the first half, for instance, Scott posted an ERA of 2.78 and 1.374 WHIP over 35 2/3 innings. His ERA was 9.82 in the second half with a WHIP of 1.964. Over his last 20 games, his ERA was 10.80 and he allowed a .985 OPS against. Scott allowed just two home runs in his first 42 2/3 innings and then gave up four in the last 11 1/3 innings.

Scott would almost certainly not make any excuses, but the results are so vastly different for him that you have to look at the knee issue for derailing what was a good season.

That was probably one of a few reasons that the Orioles recently tendered Scott a contract for the 2022 season. MLBTradeRumors.com put a projection of $1 million on his salary for next year. The Orioles were not going to non-tender over that amount.

Not when it appeared Scott had turned a corner during the shortened 2020 season and the first half of last year.

One difference in Scott's pitching from last season - and I think it may be a lasting one - is that for the first time, he threw his slider more than his four-seam fastball. He used his slider 51.6 percent at an average velocity of 88.5 mph with his fastball usage at 48.4 percent and at 96.8 mph.

I just think Scott has more command of the slider and it's effective to both le- and right-handed hitters. At its best, I've compared it to Andrew Miller's slider, which was a weapon down and in to right-handed batters and down and away to lefties. Scott can even at times elevate his slider and get swings and misses up in the zone. That can be dangerous, as you don't want to hang the pitch.

But he just seems to me more comfortable now with his slider as both a get-ahead and putaway pitch. The fastball is still there, for sure; it's just the usage is down from 61 percent in 2020.

Last season, Scott produced a whiff rate of 46.0 on his slider and that ranked as the third-highest among all major league pitchers who use the pitch (minimum 150 plate appearances).

Scott has almost always been mainly a two-pitch pitcher. It's not easy to do, but if he could add a splitter similar to what Cole Sulser throws and command that pitch, he might be dominant almost all the time. As it is, if he has control and command, he is very tough to hit. He still was for a lot of the 2021 season before the knee became an issue.

He's coming back next season for the Orioles and no doubt will get more chances late in games. As always, with Scott, the command will be the biggest factor in how well he does.