This 'cheat code' helps power Scott's outings

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Until a couple of years ago, Christian Scott barely consumed caffeine. He was not a coffee guy. Occasionally he’d splurge on a Red Bull, but in general, Scott avoided the stuff.

His habit changed when Scott met Trey McLoughlin, a reliever in the Mets system who first became his teammate at High-A Brooklyn. McLoughlin turned Scott on to the Orange Dreamsicle flavor of Reign Total Body Fuel, a pre-workout energy drink that contains, according to its website, 300 milligrams of caffeine. That’s the equivalent of about two to three cups of standard drip coffee, or a bottle and a half of the popular energy drink Celsius.

Scott is disciplined in his intake. He only drinks Reign on days he starts, about 90 minutes before first pitch. He can have trouble sleeping those nights, given all the caffeine still coursing through his bloodstream, but his circadian rhythm falls back into place within a day or two. And the benefit?

“It’s kind of like a cheat code,” Scott said, laughing as he described the extra jolt of energy.

Scott, who will make his second Major League start Saturday at Citi Field, should have even more adrenaline when he pitches in front of his home fans for the first time. His caffeine habit is just one piece of minutia picked up during a trip to St. Louis this week.

Elsewhere in the clubhouse:

• Remember when DJ Stewart seemed at risk of losing his roster spot to J.D. Martinez? Not only have the Mets found ample playing time for both, but Stewart even hit in front of Martinez in Tuesday’s lineup. It’s a credit to Stewart, whose success has come in part due to his swing decisions. Entering Friday's play, Stewart has chased the lowest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (14.5 percent) of any qualified player. His career average is 23 percent.

“I’ve always had a good eye,” Stewart said, shrugging at the notion that he’s changed much in his approach. One of his primary goals has been laying off pitcher’s pitches inside the zone, which has perhaps resulted in fewer swings outside it as well.

Of course, consistency can be difficult. Several hours after discussing his improvements Tuesday in the Mets’ pregame clubhouse, Stewart uncharacteristically chased two pitches in a game against the Cardinals. He joked afterward that he’s never talking about it again.

• The byproduct of Stewart’s playing time is that Tyrone Taylor and Harrison Bader, two semi-regular players throughout April, have found their opportunities diminished since Martinez’s arrival. Manager Carlos Mendoza is trying his best to work those two into the lineup, but Stewart’s hot streak has made that more difficult.

“Obviously, they all want to play,” Mendoza said. “But it’s big picture here. At the end of the day, they’re all going to end up getting their at-bats.”

• The Mets will, at some point, use Edwin Díaz in three consecutive games. Díaz actually enjoys the assignment of working back-to-back-to-back, saying the rhythm of daily usage helps him feel ready without much warm-up time at all.

It’s important to note that the Mets’ hesitation in using Díaz three consecutive days has nothing to do with the closer missing last season with a right patellar tendon tear. No Mets reliever -- not Díaz, not anyone -- has thrown three straight over the first six weeks of the season. None of them will until the weather warms a bit more.

“That’s how we do it here,” Díaz said. “As soon as we touch the summer, I think everyone will start going three days in a row. Your body feels way better.”

• When Martinez broke Willson Contreras’ left forearm with a swing on Tuesday, folks in the Mets' clubhouse took notice. Like most teams, New York has trained its catchers to creep closer to the plate to make framing easier. But Mendoza believes there is a “fine line” between doing that and putting oneself at risk. The Mets keep scouting data on which players’ swing paths are most likely to strike a catcher. Martinez, in part because of the violence of his swings, ranks near the top of that list.

Earlier this season, Mendoza feared Francisco Alvarez had been seriously hurt on a Henry Davis swing that struck his glove. Alvarez wound up being fine, but the concern never dissipated from the manager's mind.

“It’s been a topic throughout the offseason with every team because we see it more and more nowadays,” said Mendoza, who would like to see a rule change preventing catchers from crossing a certain line behind the plate. “It seems like every day, people are going down. You hate to see that.”

• Speaking of catchers, Tomás Nido has started four of the last five games in Alvarez’s absence. Mendoza still defines the split as “50-50,” but it’s clear his current lean is toward Nido … and it’s not terribly difficult to see why. In addition to better offensive metrics in a small sample, Nido is 3-for-15 throwing out opposing base stealers. Omar Narváez is 0-for-30.

• Finally, back to Scott. Although the former college reliever has never thrown more than 87 2/3 innings in a season, Mets officials don’t intend to put a hard cap on his contributions this summer. The days of limiting a young arm to, say, a 30-inning increase year-over-year are long gone, according to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Instead, the Mets intend to measure Scott routinely on biomechanical markers such as range of motion, while also making sure his pitch metrics don’t deteriorate in quality.

“The other way didn’t work,” Hefner said, referencing the history of pitcher injuries throughout the game. “So this is the information in front of us. You try to make the best decision possible with the information that you have.”