Christian Scott entered last season with under 100 innings and a middling ERA on his minor league resume. He was discussed in the backend of the Mets’ Top 30 prospects lists and was seen as a likely reliever. Scott made his Triple-A debut on Thursday night in one of the more highly anticipated outings of a Mets minor league pitcher in quite some time. The 24-year-old pitched to a 2.57 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over three levels in 2023, a year that saw him finish in Double-A and be named the Mets’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
That still wasn’t when all the buzz fully developed. It came over the offseason when Scott was listed among the Top 100 prospects in baseball by Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and ESPN. One of the big keys for Scott was simply getting innings as he recorded 87 2/3 over 19 starts. He also refined the shape of his fastball, started using a sweeper more effectively, and his changeup became a legitimate big-league pitch.
On Thursday, Scott was cruising to start his Triple-A career for the Syracuse Mets as they finally played—enduring two straight postponements like the Mets— their series opener against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He struck out two in a 1-2-3 first inning and struck out three in a second inning that included a single by former big leaguer Luis Torrens. He allowed his first run in the third inning when a line drive hit him in the heel and went into right field. Scott stayed in the game to strike out the next batter.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Scott struggled a bit in the fourth inning, allowing solo home runs to Everson Pereira and Jeter Downs. He did strike out two more hitters to close out his outing:
- Scott 4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 82 pitches, 75 strikes, 19 whiffs!
- RHP Dedniel Núñez 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
- RHP Cole Sulser 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- RHP Grant Hartwig 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Win
- RHP Yacksel Ríos 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save
Obviously, you’d like to see him limit the long ball and wonder if his heel may have been bothering him a bit in his final inning of work. Either way, the no walks and nine strikeouts stand out for a guy making his Triple-A debut against a lineup featuring seven guys with big league experience and one of the Yankees’ top hitting prospects in Pereira.
His 19 whiffs were the second-highest in the minors on Thursday and more than any big leaguer had on the night. Ten of those whiffs came on his fastball (37 thrown), which was up to 96 mph on the night. Scott mixed in a slider (23), a sweeper (11), and a curve (11).
Scott didn’t suffer the loss despite leaving the game 3-1 because of a four-run ninth inning rally by the Syracuse offense that gave the Mets a 5-4 win. Rylan Bannon and Luisangel Acuña started the frame with walks, and Mark Vientos made it a 4-3 with a two-run double. Yolmer Sánchez and Trayce Thompson both walked to load the bases before the tying run scored on a wild pitch. Luke Ritter came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game and was able to draw a walk for the game-winner.
- 2B Luisangel Acuña 0-for-4, BB, .461 OPS
- RF Drew Gilbert 1-for-4, R, BB, .535 OPS
- 1B Mark Vientos 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 K, 1.185 OPS
- DH Yolmer Sánchez 0-for-3, 2 BB, R, .490 OPS
- CF Trayce Thompson 1-for-3, 2 BB, 2B, .378 OPS
- SS Jose Iglesias 1-for-5, 1.129 OPS
- C Austin Allen 1-for-4, BB, .619 OPS
- LF Luke Ritter 0-for-4, BB, RBI, .347 OPS
- 3B Rylan Bannon 1-for-2, 3 BB, 2 R, .639 OPS
The Syracuse Mets are back at it on Friday night, with the first pitch at 6:35 p.m. ET. Friday is also Opening Day for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies, High-A Brooklyn Cyclones and Low-A St. Lucie Mets. We will have a ton of coverage throughout the day, previewing the season.
