Mets’ Christian Scott had ‘a lot to build off of’ in dominant return to game action

Christian Scott has been thinking about this day for a long time. 

After missing nearly two years following Tommy John surgery, the young Mets starter made his highly-anticipated return to game action Wednesday against Team Israel. 

Scott admitted there were some nerves, but it certainly didn’t show. 

The right-hander was in complete control, working around a walk and a stolen base in the fourth, before striking out two in the fifth, then retiring the final two batters he faced in the sixth.

Certainly an encouraging way to rip off the band-aid. 

“It felt great to go out there and have a defense behind you,” Scott said. “It was a lot of fun to be able to see people in the stands and get out there for my first game action -- I thought it went really well, just excited to be out there.”

Scott used his full arsenal as he allowed just two baserunners, struck out five, and threw 40 of 50 pitches for strikes.  

His secondary pitches looked extremely sharp on the afternoon, and he topped out at 96 mph on his fastball, a very encouraging sign this early in camp following surgery. 

“It’s just my first start, but I think there’s a lot to build off of,” Scott said.

“The way the ball is coming out, he has life on his fastball,” Carlos Mendoza added. “Not only hitting 96, but there’s a lot of life, and the way he was using all his pitches -- the cutter, the sweeper, the changeup -- it was fun to watch.”

The 26-year-old will now look to continue building up his pitch count from here. 

While he figures to begin the season in Triple-A, he could find himself back in the majors before long if he can stay on the mound and put together more dominant outings like his return.