ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Christian Scott’s rise has been a joy to watch for the Mets’ coaching staff, which helped the righty add a changeup to his arsenal last year before incorporating a sweeper this season.
It’s been a joy to live for Scott, who has emerged from a University of Florida reliever to the top starting pitcher prospect in the organization.
“It means a lot,” Scott said Friday from Tropicana Field, which will host his major league debut on Saturday. “I’ve worked really hard for this opportunity. I’m really grateful to be here. Going to come out and show my stuff, show what I got.”
And it’s been a joy to watch for Tomas Nido, who was alerted to Scott’s existence and ability as soon as Scott was drafted in the fifth round in 2021.
Nido and Scott share a high school coach — Alan Kunkel, who coached the catcher at Orangewood Christian School in Maitland, Fla., the pitcher at Calvary Christian in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Mark Vientos with Elite Squad, a travel team in Florida.
“I’ve known about [Scott] from Day One,” Nido said before the Mets opened a series with the Rays. “I was told to look after him and stuff. And funny enough, he’s here.”
A big part of the future of the Mets’ rotation might be here, too.
Scott is a 24-year-old whose limited arsenal mostly restricted him to the bullpen as a Gator.
He has deepened and sharpened his repertoire and emerged as both a control specialist — walking just 1.2 per nine innings in his breakout minor league season last year — and a high-octane arm who has struck out 36 in 25 ¹/₃ innings with Triple-A Syracuse this year.
A prospect who made enough noise to force a debut without a corresponding major league injury — the struggling Adrian Houser will be at least temporarily bounced from the rotation — is soft-spoken and polite.
But like so many on the mound, he transforms into someone else, a fact that became crystal clear to Kunkel on March 16, 2018.
Kunkel watched Scott take the mound against powerhouse American Heritage — “I think we were 1 and 2 in the country” at that point, he said — and thoroughly dominate while allowing one hit in a win over a team that featured plenty of future pros, including Red Sox standout Triston Casas.
“The mindset that he has — really, he would tell you what was coming,” Kunkel, who is now the associate head coach of South Florida’s baseball team, said over the phone. “He didn’t care. He didn’t think you could hit it.”
Armed with what was then a low-90s fastball and an unrelenting competitive attitude — “the kid would race you to the drinking fountain just to say he won,” Kunkel said — Scott pitched for three years at Florida, the dream school of the Coconut Creek native.
The Mets saw something in the college reliever, who was converted back to starter after the 2021 draft and began a reinvention of his repertoire.
After an inauspicious 2022 season, when he pitched to a 4.45 ERA with Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn, Scott developed a diving changeup that helped him grow into the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year last season.
This offseason, a sweeper was added that Scott said has been “huge” for him, particularly against righty batters.
“This is a big deal for the organization,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Not only for Christian Scott but for the scouting group, the player development. There’s a lot of people that put a lot of hands on him.”
He has received plenty of help from the Mets and before the Mets.
Scott estimated he would have around 50 family and friends at Saturday’s game, just a few hours from where he grew up.
His father has been taking care of the ticket requests, which has been “awesome,” Scott said.
He is guaranteed a debut, but not much beyond that.
He likely will still be in the rotation next week when the Mets host the Braves, but nothing has been promised.
“Compete Saturday and try to win a ballgame,” Scott said. “That’s all I got.”
The Mets will be concerned about Scott’s innings total after he logged just 87 ²/₃ innings last season. Concerned about his results, too, because there are always hurdles during a transition to the majors. Scott has at least one game to begin to assert himself.
According to his high school coach, there are no concerns about how Scott will handle the spotlight.
“Competitiveness and the ability to stay poised under pressure, I think, are the traits that helped him become who he is today,” Kunkel said.
