NEW YORK — With their losing streak reaching 11 games, more changes are coming to the backend of the New York Mets’ starting rotation.
The Mets plan to recall right-hander Christian Scott from Triple A to start Thursday, manager Carlos Mendoza announced before Tuesday’s game. Originally, Kodai Senga was scheduled to start Thursday, but the Mets are pushing him back to Saturday. Freddy Peralta will start on Friday.
New York is keeping a five-man rotation, leaving David Peterson in the bullpen.
It’ll be Scott’s first major-league appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2024. Scott’s 5.27 ERA over 13 2/3 innings with Triple-A Syracuse isn’t anything special, but he is coming off two better performances (10 1/3 innings, two earned runs, 12 strikeouts, two walks) where, according to Mendoza, he attacked with strikes. Scott’s velocity is up to around 95 mph, which is 1 mph higher than it was before his injury. He is coming off an impressive spring training, too.
“We knew it was just going to be a matter of time before he was helping us with the big-league club,” Mendoza said of Scott. “And here we are, giving him that opportunity, and he’s earned it.”
The Mets are getting results ranging from solid to great out of Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes and Peralta, but the other two spots in the rotation stick out for the wrong reasons, forcing them to turn to Scott.
Last Sunday, the Mets used Tobias Myers as an opener for two innings ahead of Peterson, who ended up throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Prior to that outing, however, Peterson had an 8.79 ERA over his last three starts.
Senga has pitched worse. Over his last two outings, Senga has lasted just 5 2/3 innings, allowing 14 runs.
The Mets’ offense without Juan Soto — expected to return Wednesday — is most deserving of the blame regarding their brutal start. Over their last 11 games, the Mets have scored more than two runs in a game just twice. During the span, they’ve hit just .200 (29th in MLB over the stretch) with seven home runs (only the Boston Red Sox have hit fewer) and a 4.7 percent walk rate (only the San Francisco Giants have walked less). Still, the Mets need to find improvement where they can, and that means making changes to the rotation, where they have some depth.
Peterson and Senga are not working with a lot of leeway. The same was true for Sean Manaea, the club’s highest-paid pitcher, who has worked mostly as a mop-up reliever. Peterson and Senga both struggled in the second half of last season. After making the All-Star team, Peterson had a 6.34 ERA. Late last summer, Senga accepted a demotion to the minor leagues (the Mets would again need his permission to demote him to Triple A, per his contract).
