12 relievers the Mets should target ahead of the trade deadline

7) NY Mets trade target Tanner Scott

Tanner Scott is a similar pitcher to Lou Trivino. The main difference is, he’s a lefty.

Scott has been decent so far this season. In 28 appearances, he’s pitched 25 innings and earned five saves. He’s allowed 20 hits, 14 earned runs, 13 walks, and struck out 39 batters. His ERA is 5.04, his FIP is 3.38, and his WHIP is 1.32. He’s due for a hot streak, since his FIP is well below his ERA.

Scott is a two-pitch pitcher. He throws his slider about 73% of the time, and he has great command over it, consistently putting it down and to his glove side (away to lefties, back foot to righties). He has a good fastball that sits around 96 miles per hour and is in the 99th percentile in spin rate.

Scott’s strikeout numbers are pretty insane. He is averaging 14 K/9 this year. He’s in the 99th percentile in whiff rate and 97th percentile in strikeout rate. Like Trivino, this comes with the tradeoff of poor walk numbers, with a BB/9 of 4.7 and a walk rate in the 14th percentile, one of his two blue dots on Baseball Savant (the other is barrel rate, 29th percentile). His xSLG is in the 70th percentile, and he gives up very few homers (1.1 HR/9).

If he were to come to the Mets, I think Jeremy Hefner would implore him to throw his fastball more. Yes, his slider is a good pitch, with hitters batting .232 against it. However, his fastball is an elite pitch. Hitters are hitting and slugging just .174 against it. If he can get closer to a 50-50 usage, he will be much more effective.

Scott has two years of control remaining after this year. He could be a great piece to have for the next couple of years.