The Pirates rookie right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes, not even one-year past his stellar college career at LSU, is the current pitching sensation in MLB. The 22-year-old Skenes has already made six starts this season all of them good some of them great. There’s already talk that Skenes might pitch in the All-Star Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington next month.
The Mets 24-year-old right-handed rookie pitcher Christian Scott has made five MLB starts for the team this season and currently is pitching for AAA Syracuse. Four of Scott’s starts for the Mets were good-to-excellent along with one dud start versus the Marlins in May. Why is Christian Scott not in the rotation already?
Christian Scott seems ready for prime time
Here’s what The Athletic’s Eno Sarris wrote about Christian Scott last Friday when describing pitchers with fewer than five MLB starts:
While no pitcher satisfies all three requirements perfectly, Christian Scott probably gets the closest.
• He located his fastball and slider at above-average rates
• His slider would rank in the top 15 among starters in Stuff+ if he qualified
• His four-seam fastball Stuff+ (89) was not as bad as it looked when compared to the average starting pitcher’s four-seam (92)
He could have more ride on the four-seamer, but it’s a decent two-plane fastball with average velocity, so it’s not as much of a problem as some of the fastballs thrown by the starters on our list today. When he was last in the big leagues, all four of his pitches had a 20 percent whiff rate or better. If he can push the velocity or the ride at all in the coming years, there might be another level, but if there was one player on our list today who seems like he’s got everything he needs for continued success, it’s Scott.
There’s not much question that Christian Scott represents the future for Mets starting pitching. The present is another story. The primary reason is the amount of innings Scott has and can pitch in 2024.
Including his three years at the University of Florida (the Mets like to collect Gators with Pete Alonso, Harrison Bader on the team and young pitcher Brandon Sproat making his way up the ranks), Scott has never pitched more than 87 2/3 innings in a season. Between Syracuse and New York, Scott has already thrown 61 2/3 innings this season. Do not expect Scott to throw much more than 120 -130total innings this season. That would mean Scott has about 60 -70 innings remaining. If the average start is 5+ innings that means 10-13 starts are all Christian Scott will pitch between Syracuse and New York. The Mets want as many innings with the big club as possible.
The Mets have a plethora of experienced and costly starting pitchers on their staff. Luis Severino has a one-year contract, Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana are also on short-term contracts and are possible trade candidates. But as the team is currently on a hot streak, The Mets appear to be saving Scott’s major-league innings for a little later in the season. In Syracuse, Scott can throw fewer innings while still staying sharp.
Kodai Senga is working hard to return to the rotation and the Mets are primed for a six-man rotation which would benefit Senga, Scott and whichever other four pitchers the Mets slot in as regulars.
Scott will be back with the Mets soon, but David Stearns may wait and opt to bring him back up after the All-Star break. By that time the Mets brass will have a better idea of what this season is and who is staying and who is going. A healthy Scott could be a real asset if the Mets can slip into the playoffs. Scott will be a pitching rotation mainstay in 2025 and needs to be ready to pitch 140 innings as a full-time starter. Taking a cautious approach in a season that could go either way displays organizational prudence.
Having a rookie phenom pitcher is something Mets fans are familiar with (Dwight Gooden and Matt Harvey). It would be nice if Scott were far enough along that he too would be a candidate to pitch in this year’s All-Star game. Next year for that works too.
