José Butto Making Case For 2024 Rotation

Tuesday’s game was another opportunity for José Butto to make his case to be in the 2024 rotation. Needless to say, he made a strong one.

The right-hander began the night perfectly, retiring the Diamondbacks in order and striking out the former Met Tommy Pham with his signature changeup.

Butto’s second inning of work wasn’t as clean. He allowed a single and walk consecutively to begin the inning, and then had to face 2023 All-Star Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Facing his first threat of the game, Butto went back to the well, striking out Gurriel Jr. with a changeup. He then settled in, retiring Jace Peterson and striking out Jose Herrera with another changeup to retire the side. Butto lived and died by his changeup in his start against the Diamondbacks. By the end of the night, he recorded six of his seven strikeouts with the pitch and threw 33 percent of the time.

The pitch itself is nasty, to say the least. Butto’s changeup has a 42.6 whiff percentage, and batters whiffed 13 times against the pitch on Tuesday. For comparison, Devin Williams, who has been nicknamed the Air Bender for his changeup, has a 41.5% whiff percentage on his changeup.

By relying heavily on the changeup and fastball, Butto made it through five innings against the pennant-chasing Diamondbacks. He struck out seven batters and allowed three walks and one run when he exited.

By the time the Mets’ night was over, they had pulled off a 7-4 win behind three home runs from Ronny Mauricio, Pete Alonso, and Francisco Álvarez. The victory secured Butto’s first major league win.

“It’s an incredible and really emotional win,” Butto said. “My wife and son are here for the first time and I’m really blessed.”

José Butto, Nasty Changeups. ???? pic.twitter.com/8sjaCMS3se

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 12, 2023

The one run he allowed came in the third inning. After he walked Geraldo Perdomo to lead off the inning, Butto gave up an RBI triple to Ketel Marte which gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead at the time.

Butto has certainly made a case to be considered for the 2024 rotation. He has now had two consecutive starts with five innings pitched and allowing two runs or fewer. In his last start out against the Nationals,  Butto struck out six batters and allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings.

“All these opportunities are ways to take advantage of them,” Butto said after the game. “I thank God for each and every opportunity that I get here.”

The rotation is also wide open, as it stands today. The only two players who are 100 percent sure to have a spot next season are Kodai Senga and José Quintana. Barring free agenct signings, Butto’s competition for 2024 are Tylor Megill, David Peterson, and Joey Lucchesi, all three guys who have had their opportunity to firmly establish themselves and haven’t.

“Good again,” Buck Showalter said about Butto after the game. “The walks were a challenge for … well all of us, really, it seemed tonight, except Otto, but his stuff has been crisp. I just like the way he is presenting himself in an aggressive mode and I just like the way he’s getting after it competitively.”

With back-to-back successful starts in the majors, Butto should be a mainstay in the rotation for the rest of 2023. The former 12th-ranked prospect in the Mets system would be slated for three more starts to build his name for next season. As of September 13, Butto has a 2.38 ERA and 10.3 K/9 percentage in September.

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