How the Mets' Christian Scott added a cutter to his pitching arsenal — and why it's working so well

Christian Scott was just following instructions. During the winter, the righthander had a Zoom call with Mets pitching coaches about expectations for the season and what he needed to work on. That’s when adding a cutter to his arsenal was floated.

Among those on board, Scott said, were pitching coach Justin Willard, vice president of pitching Eric Jagers and assistant pitching coach Dan McKinney. There was one obstacle, though.

Scott had never used a cutter. So when Willard suggested how to grip it, Scott obliged and didn’t ask many questions.

“I held it like that, and it started working,” Scott said. “I was like, ‘You guys are geniuses.’ ”

Amid a disappointing season, president of baseball operations David Stearns said on Friday that he’s “excited” about the Mets’ young starting pitchers, who are “performing really well.” Scott, 27, who made his debut in 2024, is one of them; he has a 3.13 ERA in 14 starts.

Part of that success is because of his cutter. Opposing hitters have a .100 batting average and .150 slugging percentage against the pitch.

Run value — which measures the total number of runs a pitcher saves or costs his team based on the outcome of every pitch — is one metric that helps quantify the effectiveness of a pitch. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 200 cutters, Scott’s 7 run value on his cutter is tied for the fourth-best in the majors.

“No, that’s awesome,” Scott said when asked if he knew his cutter ranked in the top 10 for run value. “Yeah, that’s really cool.”

He also said it didn’t surprise him.

Because his four-seam fastball is his most-used pitch (49.3%), Mets coaches wanted Scott to have a secondary pitch with similar velocity.

While Scott still features his sweeper (22.6%) as his second-most-used pitch, he replaced his slider — which had been his third offering — with the cutter (17.3%) this year.

Scott said he started throwing the pitch for better deception.

“Being able to tunnel it off my fastball — and my fastball is always going to be a high-usage pitch for me — so just having something that can tunnel off of that and look similar . . . and kind of trick the hitter a little bit,” Scott said.

Scott, who required Tommy John surgery in September 2024 and missed the 2025 season, said he started playing with a kick changeup during his rehab but not a cutter. He said the first time he began working on the cutter was during spring training after his Zoom call with the pitching coaches.

Though it was new to his arsenal, Scott felt he picked up the pitch quickly and began throwing it in games. Beginning this season in Triple-A gave him added time to feel comfortable with the pitch. He said it took about four or five starts to feel “really comfortable with the grip” and use it consistently.

When Scott was promoted to the majors in late April, then-manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters he “earned” the chance to join the Mets’ rotation. Since then, his 1.2 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, is the second-best among Mets pitchers, trailing only Nolan McLean (1.8).

“It’s legit stuff, and I’m glad that he’s on our team doing that,” outfielder A.J. Ewing said.

Scott’s .288 strikeout percentage ranks 12th, and his 107 Stuff+ — a metric aiming to capture the “nastiest” pitchers — sits 24th among 151 pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched this season. His fastball and sweeper are the primary pitches that generate swings-and-misses, but the cutter has given him a new way to keep hitters off balance.

Scott said he wants to focus on remaining consistent and going deeper into games.

While winning a World Series is his “No. 1” goal, that probably won’t come this year. The Mets (44-62) are likely to sell numerous key players before the trade deadline on Aug. 3.

But what Scott has done — and will continue to try to prove — is that he’s a valuable piece of the Mets’ future.

A pitch he had never used before, one that became one of his best weapons, is a key reason why.