A few weeks ago, it appeared as though the Mets were flirting with moving right-hander Jose Butto back to the starting rotation, but the team is no longer discussing a move. Butto has become too valuable for the Mets as a reliever.
“The good thing is he provides that flexibility that he could be a starter, he could be in the bullpen,” Mendoza said. “Right now, that’s how we feel.”
With a bullpen full of unreliable arms and a starter staff that leads the National League in walks, Butto stands out. He’s been reliable regardless of the situation or leverage, and the Mets can use him to eat innings when starters fail to go deep. The team has little restrictions on his usage, which makes it easy to plug him into various spots in the game.
However, there are challenges with using a swingman like Butto. The Mets want him to remain stretched out enough to be able to make a start in case he has to, which means keeping his pitch-count up. Using him to make up for a starter who is struggling early in a game might mean having him warm up twice in a game.
For instance, if a starter is struggling with his pitch count in the third or fourth inning, Mendoza may call down to the bullpen to get Butto hot as a precautionary measure. If that pitcher turns it around, Butto then sits until they need him later in the game, when he then has to warm up again.
The Mets try to avoid having him warm up twice without using him since it leaves him unavailable for the next 2-3 games. It seems as though the right-hander has turned into something of an ace in Mendoza’s pocket. It’s not a card he can play in every hand and he has to be strategic about where he uses it.
“How many times are you going to get him hot?” Mendoza said. “Because we got him hot in the third and then in the fourth inning, and then before you know it, the game gets out of hand, and he might be knocked down the next day because he got hot twice in one day…
“So there’s a lot here when it comes down to pulling the trigger.”
Butto is 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA over 12 relief appearances (24 2/3 innings) and 1-3 with a 3.08 ERA in seven starts this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Brandon Nimmo was out of the lineup one day after being removed from a game with a sore shoulder, but the good news for the Mets is that an MRI on his right shoulder came back clean.
Sunday in the seventh inning against the Miami Marlins, Nimmo made a diving catch on a shallow fly ball in right field to save a run from crossing. Nimmo was able to take his next at-bat, but eventually alerted the training staff to soreness in his shoulder.
“Structure-wise, the shoulder is in a good spot — a good place,” Mendoza said Monday before the Mets opened a series against the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field. “So I think this is just a day-to-day [thing].”
The outfielder could be available off the bench depending on how his shoulder feels, but the Mets appear to have dodged something more severe. Tyrone Taylor played left field in Nimmo’s absence.
Right-hander Dedniel Nuñez will make a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets will then decide whether or not to bring him to San Diego, where they begin a crucial four-game series with the Padres on Thursday at Petco Park.
STANDINGS WATCH
The Mets are about to enter the gauntlet.
On Monday, they entered a three-game series against the Orioles sitting two games back from the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card standings at 64-60. The San Francisco Giants are just two games behind the Amazin’s.
The Padres own the top spot in the Wild Card standings with a 70-55 record and the Arizona Diamondbacks are right behind their NL West foes at 69-56.
The Mets will play the Padres and Diamondbacks on the road next, finishing a long road trip in Chicago against the lowly White Sox. However, the Mets have not had good showings against losing teams as of late, losing series to the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland A’s and getting swept by the Seattle Mariners.
Beating the Orioles would do the Yankees a favor since Baltimore entered Monday tied with them for first place in AL East. The Yankees, Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for the second-best record in baseball (73-52). However, O’s haven’t been without their share of struggles. They’re 5-5 in their last 10 games and split a series at home against the Boston Red Sox over the weekend.
