News Every Day | 05 May 2024, 01:10

Game Chat: Mets vs Rays, 7:10 PM

Saturday, May 4, 2024 • 7:15 PM
Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL
RHP Christian Scott (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP Zack Littell (1-2, 3.27)
FOX

Happy Christian Scott Day!

The Mets are calling up their top pitching prospect this evening! Christian Scott has been tearing up the minor leagues and joins the Mets rotation earlier this season than a lot of people, myself included, expected.

He joins the rotation the day after a rough loss for the Mets. Jose Quintana just did not have it Friday night and the Mets went down 9-3 after taking a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning. The Mets offense showed fight the entire night and actually got the score to 10-8 before ultimately losing. The Mets are hoping their offense sticks around another day as they look to get back in the win column this evening.

Christian Scott, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Mets Lineup

Brandon Nimmo – LF
Starling Marte – RF
Francisco Lindor – SS
Pete Alonso – 1B
J.D. Martinez – DH
Jeff McNeil – 2B
Harrison Bader – CF
Brett Baty– 3B
Tomás Nido – C

Scott, the No. 62 prospect by Baseball America, takes the mound for the first time this afternoon. Over five starts and 25 1/3 innings, he has a 3.20 ERA and 0.711 WHIP. He has struck out an absurd 36 batters through that stretch. It’s even more absurd considering that he only struck out two batters in his last outing. Over his five starts this season he tossed over 80 pitches four times with a season high of 95. He’s got a mid-90s fastball, a sweeper, a slider, and a split change.

Opposing Lineup

Yandy Diaz – 1B
Richie Palacios – 2B
Isaac Paredes – 3B
Randy Arozarena – LF
Harold Ramírez – DH
José Caballero – SS
Ben Rortvedt – C
Jonny DeLuca – RF
Jose Siri – CF

The Mets bats will try to keep yesterday’s vibes going against Zack Littell tonight. Over six games and 33 innings, he has a 3.27 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 1.364 WHIP, and 114 ERA+. Littell had a 2.14 ERA through his first four starts of the season and then got roughed up for six runs over six innings against the Tigers. He then rebounded in his last start against the White Sox, holding them to two runs over six innings. He faced the Mets twice in relief last season holding the Mets to one run off three hits over two innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Littell:

Pete Alonso 0-3
Harrison Bader 1-6
Brett Baty 1-1
Francisco Lindor 0-6, K
Starling Marte 1-3, 2B, K
J.D. Martinez 0-1, K
Jeff McNeil 1-1
Omar Narváez 0-2, K
Tomás Nido 0-1
Brandon Nimmo 0-1, K
Tyrone Taylor 0-1

Game Notes

RHP Christian Scott will make his major league debut today in Tampa Bay. He is the number five prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline and the top overall pitching prospect. In five starts at Triple-A Syracuse this year, Scott is 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA (9 ER/25.1 IP) with six walks and 36 strikeouts.
Scott will become the third Mets player this year to make their major league debut this year joining Tyler Jay and Dedniel Núñez. There have been 25 pitchers (17 starters) in Mets history to record a win in their first career major league appearance. The last was Kodai Senga who did so on April 2, 2023, at Miami.
The Mets fell to the Rays, 10-8, last night in St. Petersburg. New York has alternated wins and losses over the last seven games. Since starting the season 0-5, the Mets have gone 16- 11. The Mets are in a stretch of 13 consecutive games and 26 games in 27 days.

Three Things To Watch For

Christian Scott Strikeouts. The Rays are 26th in the league for walks at 89. They have the seventh-highest amount of strikeouts at 297. In other words, the Rays are not patient and they swing freely. Scott has made a lot of noise in the minor leagues with his strikeout numbers. On paper, this looks like a juicy combination.
Brett Baty Breakout? It’s been no secret Baty has been struggling recently. Last night he went 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, including the opening three-run homer to start the game. Let’s hope this is the start of a new hot streak for Baty!
Amed Rosario, again. Before Friday’s game, we talked about how the Mets would see Amed Rosario again and how good of a season he was having. Oops. He had a terrific game against the Mets going 3-for-5 at the plate scoring two runs and driving in two.

Let’s go Mets!