Throughout the regular season, Minor League Mondays will focus on some of the brightest prospects in the New York Mets' farm system. Fans who check out this column can expect to learn about some of the team's best young players, including how they have performed down on the farm and when we could expect them to arrive in Queens. The first player who will get the Minor League Mondays spotlight is a name who has intrigued a lot of Mets' fans, starting pitcher Christian Scott.
Scott, 24, was the Mets' 5th-round pick in the 2021 draft out of the University of Florida. The Gators used Scott primarily as a reliever since their pitching staff was loaded but the Mets liked Scott's arsenal enough to have him work as a starter in the minors.
After so-so results in 2022, Scott went to another level in 2023, going 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA across three levels of the minor leagues. Scott racked up 107 strikeouts in 87.2 innings pitched and opponents hit just .199 against him, with a lot of that success coming for a AA Binghamton team that advanced to the championship series in the Eastern League.
A big key to Scott's rapid development was more reliance on his four-seam fastball, which sits anywhere from 93-97 miles per hour and hit 99 at points with Binghamton last season. That fastball has allowed Scott to develop impressive differentiation from his splitter, which sits in the upper 80s and rates as a strong secondary pitch, as well as a slider that works for a third offering.
Control has been the biggest asset for Scott's game since he can throw all three of his pitches for strikes at any time. Scott walked just 12 batters last season and is off to a fast start with AAA Syracuse this year, racking up a 19:1 strikeout to walk ratio in just nine innings pitched. Take a look at some of Scott's work from his first two starts below.
Scott has rapidly risen up prospect lists, ranking fifth in the team's system according to MLB.com and has gotten top 100 in the sport consideration from several prominent outlets. With the Mets having only two pitchers under contract beyond this season, the hope is that Scott will be able to internally fill a role in the middle of the rotation in 2025.
If Scott continues to dominate AAA competition, however, he could make an appearance in the big leagues as soon as June since the Mets have the ability to move a guy like Adrian Houser to the bullpen as a long man. There will likely be an innings cap on Scott this year since he has yet to throw more than 87.2 innings in a professional season, so it will be worth monitoring how deep he is going into games with Syracuse.
There doesn't appear to be anyone in the farm system with higher potential right now than Scott, who really has come out of nowhere to become the organization's best pitching prospect. As long as he can stay healthy Scott has a chance to deliver a strong presence in the Mets' rotation, something that will be very helpful as the hardest thing to acquire in Major League Baseball is starting pitching.