Christian Scott throwing with hopes of returning to Mets’ playoff push

The road-weary Mets returned home to a sign of hope: Christian Scott is throwing again.

The righty was on the outfield grass throwing for a second time since being diagnosed with a sprained UCL about three weeks ago .

Scott initially had thrown Sunday, a significant first step for a pitcher who is hoping his two weeks without touching a baseball will have allowed his elbow time to recover.

Scott, who threw from 75 feet Tuesday, is envisioning a best-case scenario in which he not only returns to full health but returns to a team that could use a boost to the pitching staff in September.

“This team is making a push to the playoffs,” Scott said before the Mets opened a series against the A’s at Citi Field. “Hopefully I can be a part of that.”

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The first hurdle Scott must overcome is an elbow that has grown sore late in the season for a second straight year.

In 2023, Scott missed about 2 ½ weeks in August and September while with Double-A Binghamton, but rest allowed the elbow to bounce back.

Scott and the Mets hope to have the same outcome this year, but if discomfort pops up during his build-up, surgery is a nagging possibility to fix UCL sprains.

“I feel good overall right now,” said Scott, who felt elbow soreness after his start July 21. “I’m just attacking every day so I can go and help this team in the playoffs and late in the season. … But also being smart and taking it day by day.”

There are many more steps to climb for Scott, who would have to stretch out to 120 feet from flat ground before graduating to a mound, begin mixing in offspeed pitches and eventually starting a rehab assignment.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said Scott is “still a few weeks away” from mound work.

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Scott did not want to attach a timetable to when he could pitch in the majors again.

An August return is not feasible, but there is time for the 25-year-old to help in the season’s final month and perhaps in the postseason.

“Hopefully that’s the case,” Mendoza said.

A top prospect who has pitched to middling results in his first taste of the majors, Scott was brought up in May as the organization’s best minor league arm.

He often has flashed excellent stuff that induces plenty of swings and misses , but he was tagged for eight home runs in nine starts and a 4.56 ERA.

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There is more room for Scott to grow, which could be key for a rotation whose ceiling has dropped since Kodai Senga suffered a devastating calf strain.

Presuming Scott makes it all the way back, another hurdle would be where he fits. He essentially has been replaced by deadline addition Paul Blackburn in a rotation that has significant questions: Sean Manaea could not find the strike zone in Seattle on Saturday; Luis Severino has struggled recently as his workload has piled up, reaching “a territory where he hasn’t been in the last five years, innings-wise,” Mendoza said; Jose Quintana has begun to slip after a strong July; and David Peterson has been solid but has pitched six innings in just five of his 12 starts.

Would Scott be a sixth starter? Replace a back-end arm who would not start a postseason game anyway? Would Scott be an intriguing, multi-inning arm out of the bullpen, which would serve to conserve his innings total and enable him to return from the injured list sooner?

The Mets and Scott would love to be in a position to answer those questions next month.

“It’s good that he’s throwing the baseball,” Mendoza said. “We just got to wait and see how he continues to progress.”

— Additional reporting by Bridget Reilly

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