NEW YORK — Throughout his early career, New York Mets rookie right-hander Christian Scott has demonstrated a high level of toughness. His competitiveness and ability to overcome setbacks made him think he might avoid elbow surgery. And though that ended up not being the case, Scott’s perseverance in the face of injuries offers a strong indication of his ability to return to form.
Scott, the club’s best pitching prospect, will undergo a hybrid Tommy John surgery and internal brace procedure early next week. More players have recently opted for the brace procedure because it essentially protects the ligament in the early stages of the rehab process.
The 25-year-old said he expects to return to action at some point in 2026.
Initially, the Mets placed Scott on the 15-day injured list with a UCL sprain on July 23, a couple of days after his last outing. Before opting for surgery, Scott tried to rehab in the hopes of making a late-season return. All along, surgery was never ruled out as an option.
Scott said he met Dr. Keith Meister in Texas on Monday after his most recent bullpen sessions didn’t progress the way he hoped. The tear in his elbow is believed to be a Grade 2. But Scott said he couldn’t land his offspeed pitches with total effectiveness. Scott estimated he got up to about 85 percent of his velocity on the pitch but felt tightness. Without being able to pitch at 100 percent, it only made sense to opt for the procedure.
News: New York Mets RHP Christian Scott (@chscott8) will undergo a combined traditional TJ ligament replacement along with the internal brace, what is known as a hybrid procedure, performed by Dr. Keith Meister, early next week.
We look forward to supporting him through his…— Nate Heisler (@Nate_Heisler) September 18, 2024
“We got a lot of opinions from the best minds in the world about it and the Mets have an unbelievable medical team to be able to help guide you through this, but after going over the of the options, it was really just in the best interest to do this now, and give myself a little bit of an extra time to be ready for ’26,” Scott said in a phone interview early Wednesday afternoon. “We talked about different options with the rest of rehab. But, I mean, obviously, the rest of rehab didn’t go to plan. It went well for a little while, but just when we were trying to raise the floors and the offspeed pitches, we just couldn’t quite get somewhere we wanted.”
Scott could have undergone the procedure in late July but waiting another couple of months didn’t impact his timetable for a return in a meaningful way.
“2026 is the timetable for return to play, for sure,” Scott said. “If I got it now or if I got it back in July, it wouldn’t really be too different at all. It gives me a little extra time actually on the back end to be able to be able to build my pitches up, build my innings up, be at a better position for ’26. So I feel like I’m in a good spot now. We have world-class medical staff and I have full trust because of what they’ve done for me in my career so far.
“I’m super grateful for the opportunity, for sure, this year. But I’m gonna go out and do everything I can to be even better for ’26.”
After breaking out as the top pitcher in the farm system in 2023, Scott split time this season between Triple A and the major leagues. He made his big-league debut on May 4, holding the Tampa Bay Rays to one run over 6 2/3 innings. He was optioned to Syracuse at the end of May, partly so the Mets could limit his usage. In total, Scott logged 89 2/3 innings across 18 starts between the majors and Triple A this season. In nine starts (47 1/3 innings) with the Mets, Scott had a 4.56 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP with 39 strikeouts and 12 walks. He showed glimpses of what enabled him to soar atop the club’s system.
In 2023, the Mets named Scott their minor-league pitcher of the year after he had a 2.57 ERA across three levels with 107 strikeouts. Remarkably, the breakout season included an elbow injury that threatened the possibility of surgery back then. But Scott ultimately was able to overcome it.
“I’m really proud of the maturity and perseverance Christian has shown throughout this process,” said Nate Heisler, VP of Klutch Baseball North America and Scott’s agent. “He has been battling this elbow injury for over a year and trying to do everything possible to get on the mound and be an integral part of the club. Fans sometimes don’t know what these guys are going through and there were some days where Christian took the ball, fully of his own volition, when he wasn’t feeling 100 percent and tried to gut it out to help the team.”
Scott described the situation last year as somewhat similar to this year. But last season, Scott had a different, more significant tear in a different part of his elbow. Because of the location in the elbow, he eventually was able to pitch again. At the time of the injury in 2023, he felt tightness after some starts and ended up taking two weeks off. He took the rest-and-rehab route back then, and things worked out well. He returned in 21 days.
“That was huge, being able to just set the tone coming into next year,” Scott said. “I was able to test it really in-game with multiple-inning outings, really was able to get the velo back up and even harder. It was a testimony of the work that we put in during that process. And just being able to have the faith of this medical staff, to be able to go out there, give me the opportunity to go compete with the work that we put in, it was really huge.
“This year, we had sort of similar thing and it was kind of tight, but at the same time, after last year, I figured that this would be an option to rest and rehab it, and especially with the timeframe that we had, where we weren’t rushing for a deadline or anything like that. It just seemed like a lot of sense to try to do the same thing that we did last year. So we gave it our absolute best shot. I mean, especially with the medical staff and the training staff, we turned over every stone. We tried a lot of things. It just didn’t respond to the off-speed pitches.”
Tuesday, around the time news of his surgery was announced, Scott said he talked with some of the Mets’ veteran pitchers about how best to attack the recovery. He has leaned on them all season for advice. Scott was eager to be part of the Mets’ chase for a wild-card spot or to help in some capacity in the playoffs.
“He desperately wanted to be a part of this pennant race with his teammates but once we realized he couldn’t pitch at his best we decided it was time to pursue the surgical option,” Heisler said. “This is an exciting Mets team and I know he is very disappointed not being able to contribute the last few months. I’m fully confident that he will be meticulous with the rehab and come back better than ever in 2026.”
Without Scott, the rotation has pitched well and has managed to keep the Mets firmly in contention with 12 games left. Now, he said, his job includes just being the best teammate possible.
“I’m super, super blessed to do this and I want to go out every chance I possibly get because I know that the window for baseball is super tiny, so just being able to go out every chance that I get to get ball, I want to compete at a high level,” Scott said. “But at the same time, I’m not going to do that if I’m not 100 percent and don’t have the ability to do that.
“I feel like we set myself up for the best spot that we possibly could. I’m super thankful. Now it’s just about getting myself back healthy right from ’26.”
(Photo of Christian Scott: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
