New York Mets Calling Up Top Pitching Prospect Christian Scott

The New York Mets are promoting their top pitching prospect Christian Scott to make his MLB debut this weekend in Tampa, according to a report by ESPN.

Scott has vaulted up top prospect lists over the past few months, coming off a breakout season in 2023, which saw him pitch to a 2.47 ERA in 12 starts in Double-A, with a ridiculous strikeout-to-walk rate of 9.63.

It was more of the same for Scott in Triple-A this year, where he struck out 36 batters in 25 1/3 innings pitched across his five starts, walking just six. The 24-year-old was a reliever in college at the University of Florida, but has been developed into a starting pitcher by the Mets and represents one of their best development stories in years.

What Does Scott Bring to the Mets?

Scott’s bread and butter is his fastball, which he throws from a three-quarters arm slot that sits 94-96 MPH, with plenty of ride. Getting ride on a fastball from that arm angle is very unique, and makes the pitch extremely difficult for hitters to square up.

Last year, Scott had great success using the combination of his fastball and split change-up, but the continued development of his breaking balls has improved his stock to where he has become a consensus top 100 prospect in short order.

Scott has added a sweeper to his arsenal, which he pairs with a harder slider, giving him two variations of a breaking pitch he can go to. Between his improved breaking balls, and throwing his fastball up in the zone, Scott should have no problem putting MLB hitters away.

The one concern for Scott so far this year is his propensity to give up home runs. Scott has allowed home runs in each of his five starts, allowing seven so far this year. Those home runs that he allowed have been from a few hanging sliders and some fastballs that got too much of the plate.

Due to his desire to attack the strike zone, Scott could be susceptible to getting ambushed on occasion, but home runs are about all he has been allowing lately. Along with only walking six batters, Scott has only given up 12 hits this year. Seven being home runs.

If Scott can figure out how to mitigate the home run ball, there won’t be many holes in his game. Regardless, he has clearly proven to be big league ready up to this point and now will get that opportunity to join the Mets rotation.

What This Means for the Mets?

Despite losing Kodai Senga in spring training, the Mets have actually gotten very good starting pitching so far this year. Luis Severino has led the Mets in what has been a bounce back season so far, pitching to a 2.31 ERA in six starts.

Mets Opening Day starter Jose Quintana is coming off a great start last Sunday, where he allowed just one run over eight innings pitched. Quintana has a 3.48 ERA so far. Meanwhile Jose Butto has been a great surprise for the Mets, pitching to a 2.57 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched.

Sean Manaea has been a mixed bag, as he has walked too many batters and hasn’t gone deep in games, yet he has pitched to a 3.07 ERA. The lone sore spot in the Mets rotation has been Adrian Houser, who just gave up four runs again today in his start against the Cubs.

For Houser, he actually improved his ERA by giving four across five innings pitched, lowering his ERA from 8.37 to 8.16. It is unclear if Scott will be taking Houser’s spot in the rotation, or if the Mets will move to six-man rotation for the time being.

With Scott likely on an innings limit, Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Kodai Senga all on the mend to come back off the IL, there is every chance the Mets will employ a six-man rotation for stretches this year. For now though, all we know is that Scott will be making his MLB debut in Tampa this weekend, likely on Saturday.

A kid who grew up in South Florida, getting the chance to make his MLB debut about four hours Northwest of home is an amazing opportunity for Scott, who will surely have plenty of friends and family in attendance for the game.

For more on Scott, who is ranked No. 78 in our top 100 and is ranked at the No. 3 prospect in the Mets farm system, here is his scouting report by Aram Leighton.

Christian Scott – RHP – (Triple-A)

Height/Weight: 6’4″, 220 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 5th Round (142) – NYM (2021) | ETA: 2024

An improved fastball and a leap command wise helped Scott break out in 2023, posting one of the best K-BB figures in the Minor Leagues. The right-hander built on the success by adding a sweeper in the offseason that has yielded impressive results in the early going.

Arsenal

Scott has overpowered Double-A hitters with his 94-96 mph fastball, attacking the zone with plenty of confidence. The pitch is unique because he features a three quarters release, but is still able to maintain more ride than run on the fastball, creating an incredibly flat and unfamiliar approach angle for hitters.

The result was an opponent batting average below .200 and a ridiculous in zone whiff rate of 33% paired with a swinging strike rate of 19% on his fastball in Double-A. Scott’s ability to miss bats within the zone and plus command combined to give him a 73% strike rate on the pitch in 2023.

Working off of his fastball is a plus changeup with good arm side fade in the mid 80s. Scott sells it really well with his arm speed and release, making it extremely difficult for hitters to differentiate from his fastball. He also has an excellent feel for the pitch, landing it for a strike 67% of the time in 2023 while racking up a chase rate near 40%.

Scott made some tweaks to his slider, throwing two variations that are both improved from what we saw from him in 2023. He adding more of a true sweeper to the fold in the mid 80s which plays up from his more horizontal release, while also adding more vertical drop to his traditional slider at a higher velocity.

Outlook

Assuming the adjustments to his slider continue to translate, Scott boasts the pitch mix of a mid-rotation starter with the command to supplement it.

A late bloomer, Scott is a bit older than most of the top pitching prospects surrounding him on the top 100 list, however he only threw 121 collegiate innings at the University of Florida and is knocking on the door of his big league debut in his third pro season. Scott is the Mets best pitching prospect and should grab a spot in the rotation at some point 2024.