Mets rookie Scott to undergo Tommy John surgery

NEW YORK -- Christian Scott, one of the Mets’ most promising pitching prospects of the past decade, will undergo season-ending elbow surgery next week and miss the entire 2025 campaign as well.

Scott said Wednesday that he plans to undergo a hybrid elbow surgery, which combines a traditional Tommy John ligament replacement with a stabilizing internal brace. A typical timeline for that sort of procedure is 12-18 months.

“It sucks, obviously,” Scott said. “I love to go out and compete. I love to do what I do. This is the best job in the world. So yeah, it sucks, but at the same time, this is what we sign up for.”

The surgery is a significant blow for Scott, 25, a breakout prospect who went from being unranked on the 2023 Mets’ Top 30 Prospects list to No. 5 heading into this campaign. Scott did nothing to hurt his momentum early in the season, posting a 3.20 ERA over his first five Triple-A starts to earn a quick promotion to the Majors, where he subsequently produced a 3.90 ERA over five additional outings.

With a fully stocked rotation at that time, the Mets bounced Scott back to Triple-A until July, but he proved less consistent in his second tour of the Majors. In late July, the team placed Scott on the injured list with a sprained UCL in his right elbow, at which point he acknowledged he may eventually need to undergo surgery. But Scott and team officials also believed a more conservative course of treatment could be feasible, as it was for a similar injury earlier in Scott’s career. So they gave him two months to rest and rehab in hopes of avoiding Tommy John surgery.

The downside was limited, because regardless of whether Scott had surgery in July or waited until September, he was likely to miss the entire 2025 season.

Yet during his rehab process, Scott had trouble getting his velocity “over the hump,” particularly when it came to his offspeed pitches. No longer optimistic about the viability of conservative treatment, Scott made the decision this week to undergo surgery.

“It’s not good that he’s going to be down for a long time, but he can use this experience this year as a development for him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He took the baseball from us and gave us a chance. He continues to learn and he knows what it takes to be a big league player -- what it takes to be a big league pitcher.”

Elbow expert Dr. Keith Meister, who has already performed operations on Mets relievers Brooks Raley and Drew Smith this year, will execute Scott’s procedure.

“It’s unfortunate, but at the same time, I can be positive about it and go out and be the best version of myself I possibly can on a day-to-day basis,” Scott said. “And do everything I can to get my body in position to compete in 2026. I’m excited about the process that we’re going to go and attack full-on.”

Overall, Scott went 0-3 with a 4.56 ERA over nine Major League starts. Because he finished with fewer than 50 innings, he will retain his rookie eligibility when he returns in 2026.

“It’s a long way away,” Scott said. “I’ll take each day as it comes. I’m not focused on the future right now. I’m not focused on anything, really, past tomorrow. I’m just focused on the day-to-day [stuff] -- be the best version of myself and continue to be myself on a day-to-day basis, and it will work out.”

Scott’s absence underscores the Mets’ need for pitching help this offseason. Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana are all set to become free agents, costing the team more than 500 innings from this year’s starting staff. While the team does have a few long-term rotation options at the upper levels of the Minors, including top-ranked prospect Brandon Sproat and No. 8 prospect Blade Tidwell, none are guaranteed to be ready by Opening Day.

Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn are the returning starters on the Mets’ 40-man roster, and the club could eventually convert José Buttó back to the rotation. But New York will be motivated to add help from outside the organization.