Jeremy Hefner praises Mets star prospect Christian Scott: ‘He’s a major league pitcher’
Mets right-hander Christian Scott has been stellar to start the season down in Triple-A.
The organization’s top pitching prospect picked up right where he left off following a breakout campaign, allowing just two runs while striking out eight across a pair of strong outings in big-league camp.
Scott's carried that success over to the beginning of the regular season, pitching to a 3.20 ERA and 0.78 WHIP while striking out 36 batters and walking just six over his first five outings with Syracuse.
The 25-year-old has struggled to limit the long ball, allowing seven homers thus far this season, but other than that he's been completely overpowering the International League competition.
Scott has quickly caught the attention of many within the organization, including Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who had nothing but good things to say during a recent appearance on “The Show” podcast with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman.
“Scotty’s in a good spot, he’s throwing the ball really well,” Hefner said.
The youngster's impressive fastball sits in the 97-98 mph range, and he bolstered his arsenal with new weapons this offseason, including a sweeper which has looked absolutely filthy in the early going.
“This is another situation similar to [Mets RHP] Reed Garrett where he was a reliever out of college and we’ve built him up as a starter with weapons to attack hitters,” the veteran pitching coach said.
“He’s always had a really good fastball and that’s still the case, but he’s added the sweeper to go along with his more traditional slider, and the splitter has really taken a leap forward the last few months.”
Scott’s newly developed arsenal has helped him quickly climb up numerous prospect rankings this offseason, including SNY’s Top 30 list, where he currently sits sixth overall in the system.
While Hefner knows the upside is certainly there, the former MLB pitcher and fourth-year pitching coach remains in lockstep with President of Baseball Operations David Stearns and the rest of the organization’s stance on a potential call-up.
“Scotty is doing exactly what he needs to do,” he said. “David mentioned it in his presser, but major league need versus prospect development and their trajectory in terms of where they’re at in their career arc needs to align sometimes.
“So that’s where we’re at with him and I think the challenge for Scotty right now is just to continue to be consistent out there. He’s a major league pitcher, his time will come, it’s just a matter of when.”
