Christian Scott’s confidence impresses Mets in strong start against Braves

In his second career start in his Citi Field debut Mets rookie pitcher Christian Scott showed why he has been highly praised in the organization.

Although he wasn’t as dominant as he was in his first start against the Tampa Bay Rays, early Saturday it was against a much tougher opponent – ​​the Atlanta Braves.

Despite facing a Braves lineup featuring the reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson What’s more, Scott limited Atlanta to just three runs in six-plus innings. And the Mets were very impressed with the 24-year-old.

“He had a swing and miss with his fastball. The sweeper, the slider. He threw some splitters to swing-and-miss,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “In that entry, he fell behind [Michael] Harris It is [Orlando] Arcia. Other than that, I thought he was really good.”

That inning Mendoza referred to was in the third. Scott trailed Harris 2-0 before giving up a single to lead off the inning. Arcia then ambushed a 2-0 infield fastball over the left field wall to give the Braves a two-run lead, and Atlanta never looked back.

“There are a lot of big hitters in that lineup,” Scott said of his departure. “Have a lot of respect for what they do. At the end of the day, just execute. Have confidence in my things. Confident in my preparation, routine. They took advantage of hitters’ counts. That’s what good teams will do.”

Scott would give up one more run — an RBI single to Harris in the fourth — but that was all Atlanta got from the rookie in his debut at Citi Field. Scott credits his aggressiveness for being able to start without giving up too many runs.

“I feel like whenever you limit free passes you’re going to have more success, so I really wanted to establish the fastball as soon as possible,” he explained. “We tried to get some chases out of the zone later in the counts, but I thought they did a good job in the hitter counts, being able to stay on the fastball. I just need to do a better job of executing them in those situations.

Self-evaluations aside, Scott’s confidence shone in his start on Saturday. Facing some very talented hitters in front of a home crowd for the first time, the Florida native said he remained calm in large part because of the variety of pitches he can throw, something he credits the Mets organization for.

“Much credit to the Mets development team. They gave me some propositions to rely on,” Scott explained. “I was a two-pitch guy [in college]. They really gave me a lot of weapons to deal with and helped me in those situations, for sure.”

Mendoza sees something more in Scott. Not only does he know that Scott has the tools, but he also has the conviction to use them in any situation.

“Very confident boy. The posture, his body language, behavior on the mound. I don’t think the situation is too big for him,” said the first-year captain. “He knows he’s good, he knows he plays here, he faces a very good lineup and he wasn’t intimidated. That’s really good to see, especially for a young pitcher who’s just starting to get his feet wet at this level. It was a good sign.”

In his first two big league starts, Scott allowed four runs in 12.2 innings pitched. He also struck out 14 batters.

Unfortunately, Scott didn’t get his first MLB win, but he’ll get his chance next week. Depending on how the Mets want to use their rotation, Scott could see his next shift being against another powerhouse offense – the Philadelphia Phillies.

If that’s the case, Scott and the Mets are confident the young right-hander can handle it.