B/T: R/R Ht: 6’4 Wt: 215 LB
Age: June 15, 1999 (22 years old)
Acquired: Mets 2021 5th round draft pick (University of Florida)
2021 Stats (FCL Mets): 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 3 G, 3.0 IP, 1.333 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 3.0 K/9
There’s a lot that’s just fine with the Mets 5th round selection from the 2021 draft, Christian Scott. He’s a hard thrower. He pitched fairly well at a big college program. He’s got a strong, durable pitcher’s frame.
He has a pretty generic high 3/4 arm slot, longer, but quick arm stroke, and some lower-half stiffness in a fairly repeatable delivery. In that sense, generic is good, as it allows Scott to throw enough strikes and be generally around the plate with his power two-pitch mix.
#Mets fifth-round pick Christian Scott recorded his first professional strikeout this morning in the Florida Complex League.
⚔️ alert pic.twitter.com/qs9ZjXc4kB
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) September 17, 2021
Armed with a low-mid 90’s fastball that often touches 95+ mph, Scott has big league arm strength in his mostly filled-out frame. The pitch does act with sink at times at the bottom of the zone due to the high slot and approach angle. Scott does project to generate ground balls with the pitch when located competitively.
The power slider also shows promising glove-side sweep for a pitch that he can park in the low to mid 80’s. Being able to consistently find that horizontal action will be crucial for Scott making himself into a legitimate big-league reliever. Another focus will be development of a rarely-used changeup so that he has an arm-side moving pitch to feed to left-handed hitters. Luckily, this is an area where Mets pitching development has done well in recent years. Should the feel for that come for him, Scott could easily move himself up their prospect list.
A good developmental harbinger here, is that Scott taught himself his slider grip by watching Twitter’s Pitching Ninja videos of now Mets co-ace Max Scherzer‘s slider grip. A young man who shows aptitude to self-learn and grow stands a chance to exceed expectations. Taking everything together, you can certainly see the makings of a quality reliever.
