Christian Scott’s impending debut represents big moment for Mets player development department

ST. PETERSBURG — About 50 people are driving from the Fort Lauderdale Area to the Tampa Bay Area this weekend to see right-hander Christian Scott make his big league debut for the Mets against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s an exciting moment for a pitcher born and raised in Florida and played college ball for the Gators.

But it may be even more exciting for the Mets’ player development department.

The starting pitching pipeline has been bone dry in recent years. The Mets haven’t developed a frontline starter since Steven Matz in 2015. Tylor Megill and David Peterson haven’t been able to stick in the big leagues and have struggled with injuries. The hope is that within a few years Scott will lead a rotation with homegrown pitchers Dominic Hamel and Mike Vasil, but for now he’ll be used as the sixth man in the current rotation.

“Obviously, he’s a big deal for the organization,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not only for Christian Scott, but for the scouting group and player development. There are a lot of people that had a lot of hands in the development of these kids, so for him to get an opportunity at the big-league level is a credit to a lot of people.”

Ranked the fourth-best prospect in the Mets’ system by MLB Pipeline and the top pitcher in the organization, Scott has built some major buzz during his first month in Triple-A by going 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA in five starts and missing a lot of bats in the process. His 36 strikeouts is the third-most in the International League and his 0.71 WHIP leads the league.

He throws a hard fastball and a hard, gyro-like slider, but talent evaluators think he’ll need a third pitch to compete in the big leagues. Scott added a sweeper this season and has been happy with the results.

“Adding the sweeper in my repertoire has been huge for sure,” the 24-year-old Scott said Friday at Tropicana Field. “I’m able to really not rely too much on the gyro slider to righties. I was able to really just establish the fastball at the top of the zone, and then pitch the sweeper off of that. So I’d say having the sweeper as a consistent pitch for me, especially early on the season, has been huge, for sure.”

Mendoza got a preview of how Scott used the sweeper in spring training.

“We know that fastball is explosive, but again, credit to player development because they were able to add that pitch for him,” Mendoza said. “A sweeper and a shorter slider — he’s got weapons. To be able to go through a big-league lineup at least three times through the order, you’re going to need those.”

Scott was told he was being called up to make his major league debut on Wednesday. He was eating lunch in the Syracuse facility when manager Dick Scott called a team meeting. The 2021 draft pick had no idea what was coming.

“I thought, ‘That’s weird, it’s a weird time for a team meeting,’” Scott said.

He walked into the meeting room and the team rallied around him as he was informed that he would be heading to Tampa to meet the major league team. It was a meaningful moment given how close Scott and the other members of the Syracuse Mets have become over the last few years.

“I was super excited to share with all the guys in Triple-A,” he said. “Really cool experience.”

It will be even cooler if he can keep striking out hitters at baseball’s highest level, especially in front of his friends and family in his home state Saturday.

It will also be huge for the Mets to graduate a top pitching prospect.