The New York Mets are set to call up pitching prospect Christian Scott for a start on Saturday, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed Thursday. Scott, a 6-foot-4 right-hander, was the Mets' fifth-round pick out of the University of Florida in the 2021 draft.
Scott, 24, rose from Class A to Double-A last season. In five starts for Triple-A Syracuse this season, he's 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and 36 strikeouts against only six walks in 25 1/3 innings. He's been sitting mostly in the 80s in pitches, but topped out at 95 two outings ago and has worked as many as 6 1/3 innings in a game, so he's stretched out enough to be an MLB starter.
Length for the Mets' starters has certainly been an issue this season. With ace Kodai Senga on the shelf all season so far, in addition to Tylor Megill and David Peterson, the Mets entered Thursday averaging less than 5 1/3 innings per start. That's below average and though quality starts isn't the best stat -- it isn't overly difficult to achieve with any length -- the Mets are in the bottom third at 27% quality start rate.
"I think Christian has done everything we could have hoped and expected," president of baseball operations David Stearns said earlier in the week before the Mets opened a series against the Cubs. "He continues to throw the ball very well. I think there's this balancing act when you call up a prospect of when is the prospect ready and then when is there the major league need? Often those need to overlap and intersect and for some guys down there we're probably just waiting for that intersection to occur."
The team will move to a six-man rotation with the inclusion of Scott, Mendoza said, giving pitchers an extra day of rest.
The Mets face the Rays in Tropicana Field Saturday and that could be a soft landing for Scott. The Rays' offense is in a funk right now, having scored two runs or fewer in each of their last four games. They've lost eight of 10 overall.
