Mets eager for young pitchers led by Christian Scott, Brandon Sproat to make impact
Mets pitcher Christian Scott looks on from the dugout before an MLB baseball against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Christian Scott threw a baseball on Monday for the first time since last summer, a major milestone in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. Nolan McLean will pitch in a major-league exhibition game for the first time Tuesday. Jonah Tong is a headliner on the Mets’ roster for a prospects showcase game Sunday.
Separately, these are routine, maybe mundane, March occurrences.
Taken together, they serve as a strong reminder: The pitchers are coming.
In recent years, the Mets have invested significant resources — money and manpower — into modernizing their pitching infrastructure and developing arms. They patiently believe they are close to seeing dividends in the majors.
“We saw guys like [Brandon] Sproat and [Blade] Tidwell who were in big-league camp, but there’s a lot more coming,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re going to need that.”
Scott was at the front of the pack, the first Steve Cohen Era homegrown pitcher who became a bona fide prospect and reached the majors, doing so last May. He pitched to a 4.56 ERA — a middling number that belies what the Mets view as his true ability and future effectiveness — in nine starts before needing elbow surgery.
Lately, Scott has filled out his rehabbing days with lying by the pool and reading way more than usual. Among the recent titles: “Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable,” by Tim Grover, Michael Jordan’s former trainer. It was a gift from Eric Jagers, the Mets’ vice president of pitching.
Come 2026, when Scott is healthy and back, he likely won’t be alone. Any of a bunch of arms could figure into the Mets’ plans. Sproat and Tidwell, who impressed in spring training and are due to return to Triple-A Syracuse to begin the season, should debut this year if they pass their final minor-league tests. McLean and Tong are right behind them, having finished last year at Double-A Binghamton. There are more waves at the lower levels of the minors.
Inevitably, some pitching prospects flame out. Some become relievers. Some become rotation fixtures. Some become great. The more candidates the Mets compile, the more likely they are to get some who fit into that last category.
“It says a lot about the people who are in the organization — a lot of people who want to be here. We’re all pulling on the same rope, so when we go and train, we’re pulling for each other,” Scott said. “We do a really good job of instilling a lot of confidence into ourselves. If somebody has a good outing, everybody is out there dapping them up like, ‘Hey, you threw really, really damn good, it’s really fun to see.’ To be able to stack those good days and continue to pull for each other from the same rope, that’s what has made us so special.”
Scott and Sproat played together at the University of Florida, competing against Tidwell and Tennessee in the SEC. Tidwell and Sproat were teammates on a Team USA national squad; Tidwell said he came to love that Sproat “never complains.” Scott described Tidwell as “the best I’ve ever seen at manipulating the baseball.”
“Whether he’s throwing a cutter, a gyro slider, a sweeper, the way he’s able to manipulate it and get numbers on his pitches is the best I’ve ever seen,” Scott said, referencing three pitches that often exist on a spectrum. “Also, when he comes in and he gains 25 pounds of muscle, you can see how his work ethic is.”
Wait, what? Twenty-five pounds of muscle?
“He was telling me he added 20 pounds of muscle this offseason and I was like, dude, you look like George Kittle right now. You’re massive,” Scott said, citing the NFL tight end. “He came out super-strong, super-filled out. It speaks to his work ethic. It speaks to the guy he is. He didn’t have the year he wanted to last year [5.93 ERA in Triple-A], but he’s coming out here and had a great offseason, goes out and competes at a high level, had a great spring so far. So I’m super-excited for him.”
As they navigated another offseason in which they needed to rebuild the rotation, the Mets spent plenty of money — carefully.
Frankie Montas got two years and $34 million. Clay Holmes, a converted reliever, received three years and $38 million. Griffin Canning got one year and $4.25 million. Sean Manaea came back for three years and $75 million.
The point of all this is to not have to hand out those kinds of contracts to pitchers who may or may not offer a performance to match. The Mets would much rather have similar or better production from their own guys making less than $1 million.
“We’re super-close because we grew up in the organization, played on a lot of the same teams,” Scott said. “We’re pulling on the same rope and having a lot of fun together. It’s going to lead to a lot of success.”
Notes & quotes: Dedniel Nunez (flexor strain last year) faced batters for the first time during spring training, keeping alive his chances of being ready for Opening Day . . . Brandon Nimmo (right knee soreness) resumed light baseball activities . . . Tony Clark and MLBPA made their annual stop in camp, holding an hourlong meeting with the whole team . . . In an 8-0 win over the Cardinals, Starling Marte (right knee bone bruise) made his Grapefruit League debut, going 1-for-2. He looked smooth as he ran from home to second (on a double in his first at-bat) and when he scored from second minutes later . . . Griffin Canning struck out five in 3 2/3 scoreless innings . . . Juan Soto hit his third long ball of camp. In his first at-bat since Francisco Alvarez broke a bone in his hand, Luis Torrens homered off Sonny Gray. Alvarez’s hamate bone surgery went “as expected,” the Mets said.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
