A tailor approached Christian Scott in the Citi Field clubhouse about two weeks ago and asked if she could take his measurements for a suit.
“I was like, ‘All right,’” the Mets rookie said, “‘How much is it?’”
The bill was paid, for both Scott and a since-demoted José Buttó. As is baseball tradition, the buyer — Luis Severino — is only asking Scott and Buttó to pay it forward when they become the Severinos of the clubhouse.
Severino is now a 30-year-old in his ninth major league season who is making $13 million with the Mets this year and has made about $60 million through his career. Those riches were only dreams when the promising young Dominican debuted with the Yankees back in 2015.
Severino was a 21-year-old with a big-time fastball and nasty slider — and with a grand total of one suit to wear for special events, which included some road trips on which the team asked its players to get dressed up.
So CC Sabathia, who was in his 15th big-league season, brought Severino in front of a tailor and bought him a pair of suits.
“When CC did that, I was like, ‘I want to be that same person. When I get a nice contract, get some money, maybe keep the tradition going,’” Severino said this week.
“When Scott gets some money, [I hope he says,] ‘I remember Sevy did that for me when I was young, so I can do that for somebody else.’”
Scott was not aware of the custom, which became one more thing to learn in his first days as a major leaguer.
The righty will get the ball Thursday for the opener of a series with the Diamondbacks holding a 3.97 ERA after his first four starts. He is still looking for his first victory, though he has pitched well three times, and is trying to soak up lessons from a veteran Mets rotation.
In addition to Severino, Scott mentioned Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana as particularly helpful in learning how to stay consistent and, he hopes, healthy over the course of a 162-game season.
“There are great leaders in this clubhouse,” Scott said. “Guys who have been here for a while, especially in the rotation. Sean, Q, Sevy — guys have been here and done that.
“I’m just riding their coattails and seeing what works for them through the ups and the downs. How the day-to-day works. It’s a little bit different coming here every single day and [figuring out] what to do, what to feed off of, just what to expect every day.”
As of Tuesday, Scott was waiting for the tailor to finish the suit. He knew few details about it. He merely got sized and told the designer to pick the color and the specifics.
He did not need the fancy attire yet, but he has circled the June 8 and 9 trip to London to play the Phillies to break it out for the first time.
“It’s awesome,” Scott said of the tradition. “Sevy’s been great.”
Severino said he takes pride in carrying on the convention, even if the first truly nice suits he owned have become a distant memory. The ones Sabathia bought for him are no longer in his wardrobe.
“They don’t fit anymore,” Severino said with a smile. “I was skinny back then.”
A big day for LOL Mets
Wasn’t that a nice, human story about the Mets? Savor it — it will be the only feel-good Mets piece you will read today.
Because on Wednesday, the Mets hit what looked like rock bottom with an embarrassing sweep at the Dodgers’ hands in which several injuries struck and their frustrations boiled over — and then they dug a bit deeper off the field.
Let’s do an accounting of the worst day of the Mets’ season and among the worst of the past few years:
• Shortly before first pitch, struggling closer Edwin Diaz was placed on the 15-day injured list because of a shoulder impingement.
• In the first inning, Pete Alonso was struck on the right hand trying to check his swing. The star first baseman, who rarely exits games, was pulled and sent for tests. The initial X-ray was negative, but the team was planning to do CT scans.
• The Mets fought back to tie the game, 3-3, before a meltdown that was prodigious in scope even for the Mets. They allowed six runs in the eighth inning in what became a 10-3 loss, punctuated by righty Jorge López arguing with third-base umpire Ramon De Jesus about a check-swing call and getting tossed.
On his way off the field, Lopez untucked his jersey and flung his glove over the netting, a show of frustration that manager Carlos Mendoza soon would call “unacceptable.”
• As it turned out, López’s post-game interview was unacceptable to the Mets, too. López said he had no regrets about the glove toss and appeared to call the Mets “the worst team in the whole f–king MLB.” Asked if that was indeed what he meant, López said “probably.” The Puerto Rico native conducted the interview in English, his second language.
• Regardless, Mets brass talked to López and reached the conclusion that they could not ask López to return to the clubhouse. The veteran reliever will be designated for assignment.
• The players López will leave behind held a players-only meeting in the clubhouse. The team needs to look “ourselves in the mirror and say: ‘Am I doing the right thing?’” Francisco Lindor summed up, trying to ensure each player is preparing the right way.
• The Mets have fallen to 22-33, which is bad enough. Perhaps worse: The rest of the league is now laughing at the chaos.
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It’s not just in Queens
And here’s the thing about the Mets’ underperformance: It extends past the big leagues.
Scott has been a positive development for the Mets over the first two months of the season. But he has been an aberration in what has been a difficult start for not just the major league Mets but the minor league Mets.
Here is a rundown of how MLB Pipeline’s top 15 Mets prospects have fared thus far:
1. Jett Williams, SS/OF: Surgery is a possibility because the 20-year-old sparkplug has not been able to shake wrist soreness.
2. Drew Gilbert, OF: Has not played at Triple-A since April 6 because of a hamstring strain.
3. Scott
4. Ryan Clifford, OF/1B: Promoted from High-A Brooklyn to Double-A Binghamton, but holds just a .668 combined OPS and 63 strikeouts in his first 44 games.
5. Luisangel Acuña, SS/2B/OF: Ronald’s brother has hit well of late, but he has not had much success in reaching base (.311 OBP) or hitting for power (three home runs). His value is perhaps best on the bases — though he has stolen 19 bags, he has been caught six times.
6. Ronny Mauricio, IF/OF: Tore his ACL while playing winter ball.
7. Colin Houck, SS: The Mets’ first-round pick in last year’s draft is hitting just .194. He entered play Wednesday striking out in 38.3 percent of his at-bats with Low-A St. Lucie.
8. Marco Vargas, IF: The 18-year-old has made consistent contact. After a 4-for-5 day Wednesday, he bumped his OPS to .758 with St. Lucie.
9. Kevin Parada, C: The 2022 first-round pick has swung better than he did last season, but he was still hitting just .212 with six home runs in his first 40 games with Double-A Binghamton.
10. Blade Tidwell, RHP: A rare riser, the 22-year-old was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse and carries a combined 2.20 ERA in nine games this season.
11. Mike Vasil, RHP: Walks have plagued the 24-year-old, who owns a 7.71 ERA with Syracuse.
12. Jeremy Rodriguez, SS: The 17-year-old, who was the prize in last year’s Tommy Pham trade, has swung well (.902 OPS) in his first 16 games in the Florida Complex League.
13. Brandon Sproat, RHP: Another riser, the two-time Mets draft pick has reached Double-A Binghamton and pitched to a combined 1.42 ERA in his first 44 ⅓ innings with 53 strikeouts.
14. Dom Hamel, RHP: The 25-year-old righty is struggling at Triple-A, where he has walked far too many and pitched to a 7.36 ERA.
15. Jacob Reimer, 3B/1B: Has not debuted this season because of a hamstring injury.
There are quieter success stories, including two-way player Nolan McLean and righty Jonah Tong, but the Mets’ farm system also has had a rough couple months.
Time waits for no one
In their past nine games, the Rangers have not won in regulation. Each of Games 2-4 of this conference final has been settled in overtime.
Here is guessing Thursday’s all-important Game 5 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) will be a nailbiter, too.
The Rangers return to the Garden for a pivotal game that follows one of their worst in this magical playoff run.
Sure, they lost Game 4 to the Panthers in overtime, but Igor Shesterkin was the singular force that allowed them to almost steal a game in which they were outplayed.
Now is the time for the Blueshirts who have been too quiet to come alive. They’re two victories from advancing and six away from raising the Stanley Cup trophy for the first time in 30 years.
Three good periods Thursday night would bring them much closer to that dream.
Prospect of the day
Despite his 5-foot-7 frame, Jared Serna has some serious pop.
The Yankees infield prospect homered twice and collected seven RBIs in a 9-3 win for High-A Hudson Valley on Wednesday night. It was Serna’s second multi-homer game of the month following a three-dinger performance on May 1.
Signed out of Mexico in 2019, Serna, 21, now has nine homers with an .831 OPS in 166 at-bats this season.
— Andrew Battifarano
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ Luis Gil went eight innings, allowing two hits and one run while striking out nine — aka a new-normal Luis Gil start — as the Yankees sweated out a win over Angels, despite Aaron Boone’s ejection.
🏈 Jets head coach Robert Saleh is out of excuses and mulligans, writes The Post’s Steve Serby, and simply needs to win in what is sure to be a fateful season.
🏈 Inside the budding mentorship dynamic between Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux with the Giants.
🏀 Big win for the Liberty at a fired-up Barclays Center to improve to 5-2.
⛳ Scottie Scheffler got off the hook.
🏒 Congrats to PWHL Minnesota, inaugural winners of the Walter Cup as champions of the new women’s hockey league.
🎾 The invincible Iga Swiatek held off a resurgent Naomi Osaka in an instant classic at the French Open.
🏀 Bronny James continues to drive the NBA nepo baby discourse.
