NY Mets Kodai Senga solution has been right in front of them this whole time

The New York Mets were dealt a devastating blow with their ace, Kodai Senga, suffering a shoulder injury in Spring Training. Any team losing a pitcher as talented as Senga would be worse off, but this Mets team in particular that happens to be in dire need of starting pitching needs their ace healthy.

With today's news, the Mets will be without Senga until late May at the absolute earliest. It'll be tough for them to tread water until then, but not impossible, especially if their other starting pitchers step up.

New York initially went with Tylor Megill to replace Senga's rotation spot, but Megill suffered a shoulder injury himself and is on the IL. They then signed Julio Teheran to take that spot, but he was DFA'd after just one start. Now, the Mets have the opportunity to call on a pitcher who arguably should've gotten the first crack, Christian Scott.

Christian Scott is the most obvious Kodai Senga solution for the Mets right now

There is no replacing Senga, a pitcher who was in the Cy Young conversation last season, but the pitcher with the most upside in New York's organization other than Senga is Christian Scott, their No. 5 prospect according to MLB Pipeline.

Scott was a fast riser in the Mets' prospect ranks thanks in large part to a dominant 2023 campaign in which he was named the Mets Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Scott posted a 2.57 ERA in 19 starts and 87.2 innings pitched, plowing his way through three different levels up to AA Binghamton in the process.

It's safe to say that he's carried that momentum into the 2024 campaign. Scott opened the season in AAA Syracuse and has pitched well, allowing four runs in nine innings of work. What he's done that has really opened some eyes is he's fanned 19 hitters in his two starts compared to just one walk. That'll work!

Scott was dominant in his start on Wednesday for the Syracuse Mets, allowing one run in five innings and striking out ten against the Red Sox AAA affiliate. He leads the International League in strikeouts. Small sample, but he struck out 11.0 batters per nine last season while issuing just 1.2 BB/9. This is nothing new.

He's relatively inexperienced in the upper levels of the minors, but what he did last season and what he's doing now is really tough to ignore. Scott was expected to make his MLB debut sometime this season, but he might be pushing the envelope to come up now.

The Mets have decent depth options in Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi who are capable back-end MLB starters, but Scott can be more than that. He also profiles as a pitcher who can, if he's locating his pitches at the MLB level, give length, which is something that this Mets rotation has struggled to do. The 24-year-old is showing that he's MLB-ready and should be given a chance. With Senga out, there isn't much to lose. It won't happen now, but it should happen soon.