Christian Scott should soon start throwing from 120 feet in what would be another step forward in the rookie right-hander’s potential return from the strained UCL he suffered July 22.
“Everything feels good,’’ Scott said Saturday after another throwing session before the Mets’ 4-0 win over the Marlins at Citi Field.
He has yet to start throwing breaking pitches, which will be another test in his comeback attempt.
With Kodai Senga still limited to doing upper body work as he recovers from a strained calf and president of baseball operations David Stearns sounding like the team has no immediate plans to call up promising 23-year-old right-hander Brandon Sproat from Triple-A Syracuse, the return of Scott would be key to their playoff push.
Scott, 25, showed flashes of excellence through most of his first seven starts but was hit hard in his last two outings.
Still, with a rotation that already lacked much depth, more good arms would help.
They also haven’t gotten much length from the rotation of late, though Luis Severino’s complete-game shutout on Saturday and Sean Manaea’s seven-inning outing in Friday’s win helped.
Before that, only David Peterson had lasted more than five innings the previous time through the rotation.
Considering where the Mets are in the NL wild-card standings, they will look for help from Scott, if he’s healthy.
“The intensity is gonna increase here pretty soon,’’ manager Carlos Mendoza said of Scott’s rehab process. “But it’s hard to tell [how he is] until he gets on a mound and throwing all his pitches.”
Pete Alonso hit his 100th homer at Citi Field. Only Darryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza have hit more homers in Queens.
“That’s fun,’’ Alonso said when told of the milestone. “It’s really cool. This is a really special place to me, so it means a lot. I hope to keep doing my best.”
Alonso is eligible for free agency at the end of the season, so it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to catch Strawberry and Piazza.
For the first three-plus months of the season, no everyday player was worse at the plate than Jeff McNeil.
Of 139 qualified hitters, McNeil’s .582 OPS was the lowest in the majors on July 12.
Since then, McNeil entered Saturday with a 1.025 OPS, which is the best of any Met — and 13th in MLB.
“He’s been getting in position to do damage,’’ Mendoza said. “Whether it’s his lower half or focusing on driving the baseball, he’s not so much guiding it or going the other way or flipping at balls. … “He’s swinging the bat with authority and he has the ability to pull the ball when he has to. He’s not missing pitches. We’ve seen really good signs the last three or four weeks.”
Francisco Lindor continues to thrive while batting leadoff.
The shortstop extended his hitting streak to 11 games Saturday with a leadoff homer.
In 79 games hitting at the top of the lineup prior to Saturday, Lindor had an OPS of .888, compared to a .697 OPS in 29 games hitting third and .419 batting second.
And his 23 homers overall heading into Saturday led all NL shortstops.
Mark Vientos was back in the No. 2 hole for a third straight game Saturday, as the third baseman continues to supply consistent production.