Christian Scott pitched like an ace in his MLB debut in a great sign for the Mets future
Saturday night was a pretty big one for the New York Mets, as Christian Scott became the first draft pick of the Steve Cohen era to make his major league debut. The Mets’ top pitching prospect pitched in front of friends and family in his home state of Florida and did not disappoint, throwing 6.2 innings of one run ball.
The Mets drafted Scott with their fifth round pick in the 2021 draft, and turned heads last season when he dominated High-A and Double-A last year, and pitched well in Triple-A to start his 2024 campaign before his well-deserved callup.
New York Mets pitcher Christian Scott opened to rave reviews, reminding everyone why he was the top pitching prospect and what can be to come.
Scott’s first inning was an unlucky one, as he gave up a single to Tampa’s Yandy Diaz that had just a 68.6 mph exit velocity, while Richie Palacio’s double registered just a 79.3 mph exit velocity, which was a 2-2 pitch outside the strike zone that he chased. But instead of feeling rattled, Scott just competed, throwing strikes and going after hitters, eventually striking out Randy Arozarena for his first big league strikeout and then inducing a double play grounder to get out of the inning conceding just one run.
Through four innings, 34 of Scott’s 43 pitches were strikes. Because he threw lots of strikes, he got hitters to swing and generate quick innings and at-bats, and it allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning of his debut. It wasn’t until 21 batters into his debut that he issued his first walk to Tampa’s Isaac Parades.
Scott had all of his pitches going, was able to mix up the speeds of all his pitches, and did not rely overwhelmingly on one pitch. He threw 41 fastballs, 28 sweepers, 17 sliders, and 8 splitters among the 94 pitches he threw, of which 67 were strikes. His sweeper was devastating, as four of his six strikeouts came from the sweeper, but he got whiff rates of at least 35 percent each on his fastball, sweeper, and slider.
Another quality we see of aces is the ability to go deep into games, especially when his team needs him to. In a season where the Mets starters have seldom gone deep into games, the Mets got length last night. After Jose Quintana went just 2.2 innings on Friday, Scott pitched 6.2 innings, while giving up just one run. The last Mets pitcher to give up just one earned run or fewer in at least 6.2 innings in his MLB debut was Jacob deGrom in May 2014. Perhaps Scott’s performance last night might be a good sign for the Mets.
The Mets lost the game, and the way they lost was more brutal than the result (as Adam Ottavino and Sean Reid-Foley each gave up bases loaded walks in the 8th inning), but it is hard not to be optimistic about the future of the Mets rotation if the Mets keep getting good results from their pitching prospects.
The Mets may also see the MLB debuts of three of their other top pitching prospects by the end of the year too, in Mike Vasil, Blade Tidwell, and Dom Hamel. Vasil and Hamel were drafted by the Mets in 2021, while Tidwell was taken the following year. We are probably getting a glimpse of the future at the big league level with this franchise, and perhaps in a big way. For that, we are here for it.
This article was originally published on risingapple.com as Christian Scott pitched like an ace in his MLB debut in a great sign for the Mets future.