Overall, Christian Scott‘s return to the big leagues has been a one of the few bright spots within the Mets’ underwhelming season. But one thing that has been missing for him is the ability to pitch deep into games consistently.That’s the next step Scott needs to take in his development. To his credit, he has done a better job of that since the All-Star break, including against the Yankees Sunday.

The right-hander threw six innings, giving up two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts over 82 pitches. An efficient outing to say the least. Scott opened the game by giving up a solo home run to Ben Rice, one that barely got over the fence in right field. A few innings later, Austin Wells got a hold of an elevated fastball and hit another solo home run, this time to right center field. Scott finished his outing with three scoreless frames, keeping the Mets within striking distance.

Unfortunately, their offense struggled all day, and they dropped the series finale 2-0.

Scott’s overall numbers in the second half haven’t been great, pitching to a 4.38 ERA over 51 1/3 innings. But Sunday’s outing was his third quality start of the season, all of which have come after the All-Star break. Something to strive for as the year closes.

It has been a difficult season for the Mets, one that began with a lot of promise and optimism in March. Searching for silver linings in September was not on the bingo card for most fans, but that’s the situation the fanbase is in. But if people are looking for reasons to be excited, the Mets’ young arms certainly makes the list.

Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton and Scott all pitched against the playoff-bound Yankees this weekend. And while McLean and Scott were on the losing end, their interim manager still had positive takeaways. “It’s good to see him [Scott] do it here. I don’t think there’s one of us that knows guys that would’ve doubted they would do it here. Pitchers have bad games sometimes because they have bad games, but this park was not going to rattle either one of those guys. Don’t see playoff atmospheres rattling those guys. Don’t see anything really getting in their way from being what they can be,” Andy Green said.

A lot is up in the air for the 2027 season, not only for the Mets but baseball as a whole. Whether or not the season will start of time will be a topic of conversation all offseason. The Mets have a lot to think about, but with these young guys in their rotation, their pitching staff has a chance to be very good. If they can bring in one marquee addition, via free agency or trade, that group looks to be in good shape.