With Jose Butto continuing to put up solid numbers out of the bullpen, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was again asked on Monday if there had been any discussion about moving the young right-hander back into the rotation.
“He’s in the bullpen, so we haven’t had that discussion at all,” Mendoza said before Monday’s win over the Baltimore Orioles. “He’s in the bullpen and he’s a huge piece for us there.”
Since joining the bullpen at the start of July, the 26-year-old has pitched to a 1.40 ERA over 25.2 innings and 13 appearances, allowing just 13 hits and 11 walks while striking out 29 batters, after tossing a scoreless eighth inning in the win.
As it relates to his role for the rest of the season, the skipper said that “anything can happen” as far as injuries and indicated Butto would need ramping up to return to being a starter.
“I think pitch count-wise, it’s gonna be a factor if we ended up needing a starter,” Mendoza said. “But it’s hard for me to answer that question as I sit here. He’s in the bullpen and he’s a huge piece for us.”
If Butto were to be pressed into service in the rotation, Mendoza believes he would be good, like he was earlier in the year, but “right now we feel good with our five guys that we got and he’s been pretty good out of the ‘pen as well.”
“The good thing is he provides that flexibility, that he could be a starter, he could be in the bullpen. But right now that’s where we feel he’s best,” he said.
Butto made seven starts at the start of the season before he was sent down to Triple-A. He pitched to a 3.08 ERA and a 1.132 WHIP in 38.0 innings.
With the right-hander sticking in the bullpen, Mendoza will have to continue to find the best spots for him to work to maximize his effectiveness and his availability.
“We’re open to anything. There’s times when we need to use his innings,” the manager said about Butto’s workload. “Perfect example was the other day, playing the Oakland A’s. And [Paul] Blackburn gave us [four] innings and we were down 7-1 and we had to pitch him, we had nobody else. Because of what happened the weekend in Seattle, I had like three or four guys down that day.
“It’s one of those where you know Butto is gonna pitch that day, and it just happened to be that we got down because that was what we had, we needed to cover nine innings. Then he’s down for a couple. Then the other day we had an opportunity to win a game.”
Mendoza called that situation “not ideal,” using Butto in a low-leverage mop-up duty of what was eventually a 9-4 loss last Tuesday at Citi Field.
Added to the challenge was managing how much Butto warms up in the bullpen without losing him for the next day’s game without him even making an appearance. Against Oakland, Butto had to get “hot” in the bullpen during the third and fourth innings before entering to pitch the fifth and sixth frames. He then struggled when he came in, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks.
“There’s a lot here when it comes down to pulling the trigger: Is it a multiple-inning outing? Is it one inning so we can get him back two days later?” Mendoza said. “So there’s a lot to it. But when he’s available the game will dictate how we’re going to use him.”
He added: “Every situation is different. I would like to have him available as many days as possible and as many games, but the game will dictate how you gonna use him.”
He added: “Every situation is different. I would like to have him available as many days as possible and as many games, but the game will dictate how you gonna use him.”
But the manager hopes Butto continues to flash a style that has allowed him to be effective coming into games.
“His ability to slow the game down, his understanding of the game, where he’s at in particular situations, whether he needs a ground ball or going for a strikeout. Not only staying on the attack, being aggressive, but just putting hitters away,” Mendoza said. “The way he’s using the changeup, the breaking ball – the slider – and the four-seam, he’s got three plus pitches. He’s been huge.”
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