Francisco Lindor homers, Jose Butto is Mets' bullpen savior again in win over Rockies
Jose Butto of the Mets reacts after an inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
In four relief appearances across less than two weeks, Jose Butto has emerged as exactly what the Mets needed amid their late-inning tumult: a bullpen savior.
He did it again Saturday in a 7-3 win over the Rockies, the Mets’ fifth in a row, dominating for 2 2⁄3 scoreless innings.
Butto’s numbers since the Mets called him up and stuck him in a relief role early this month, a desperation-induced transaction: 7 2⁄3 innings, 0.00 ERA, 0.65 WHIP. He has struck out eight and walked three.
Not bad for a 26-year-old rookie who had been a starting pitcher virtually his entire career.
“The most impressive part is he’s just never done it before,” Dedniel Nunez, a fellow unexpected in-house bullpen stabilizer, said through an interpreter. “Now that he’s here, he’s taking advantage of the opportunity and he’s flourishing in that opportunity.
“Sometimes we’ll be there in the dugout and we’ll start talking about different situations. What will you do in that situation? What will you do in this situation? I think that’s also been really helpful for both of us and everyone else in the bullpen, because we’re thinking ahead and we’re all staying united.”
The Mets improved to 49-45, a season high-tying four games above .500. That also happened on April 20.
Francisco Lindor provided a big cushion in the form of a three-run homer in the eighth, and Jeff McNeil’s two-run double in the second highlighted a four-run rally made possible by Rockies second baseman Brendan Rodgers’ bobble and throwing error.
Butto, though, came through the biggest against Colorado (33-63). He served as a one-man bridge between starter Christian Scott (4 1⁄3 innings) and closer-for-the-day Nunez (two innings for his first career save).
Inheriting a mess of Scott’s making, Butto entered with two runners on and one out in the top of the fifth. Elias Diaz grounded into a double play to end the inning.
“For him to come in in the middle of an inning, with traffic, in a spot that he’s probably not used to — it’s huge for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
From there, Mendoza rode him as long as he could, another necessity with few options — never mind trustworthy ones — available. Butto struck out the side in the sixth. He retired the side in order, with two more strikeouts, again in the seventh.
When he faltered briefly to begin the eighth, allowing a single by Ezequiel Tovar and walking Ryan McMahon, the Mets turned to Nunez. The biggest at-bat of his two scoreless innings to end the game: Diaz again, with two on again, grounding into a double play again in the eighth.
Filling in as the closer was extra special for Nunez, who pitched in front of his 9-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter for the first time. The younger of the two seemed to be more into it, he said.
“It’s even more than being blessed, more than grateful, more than excited,” Nunez said. “I think the best part about it was my family was here today and they were able to see it.
“He understands it, but my daughter enjoys it more. She’s just excited. She’s always screaming in excitement.”
Butto handling crucial innings in the middle of or late in a game has been a theme of the Mets’ month.
They brought him back to the majors on July 2, part of the revolving-door dynamic with a shorthanded, overworked bullpen during Edwin Diaz’s foreign-substance suspension. In four games since, Butto has three wins and a save.
He’s quickly earned Mendoza’s trust.
“The first thing I learned is we gotta be ready for any situation,” Butto said. “[Whether] it’s going to be earlier or later in the game, you never know. You gotta be ready to help the team win.”
Mendoza said: “The one thing I was very impressed with him when I first met him in spring training was his makeup. Quiet kid but always willing to get better, always willing to do whatever the team needs.
“Even when we sent him down, right away, he said, ‘I’ll do whatever. If you need me to pitch out of the bullpen, I’ll do it.’ I [said] you’re going to go down to Triple-A and be a starter.”
Butto was in the Mets’ rotation for about a month early this season but got squeezed out by the healthy return of others. Now he and Nunez are getting a chance to be difference-makers in the bullpen as the front office evaluates its choices before the July 30 trade deadline.
“I continue to say they will continue to step up,” Mendoza said of the relievers. “Today it was Butto and Nunez’s turn. Tomorrow a couple of other guys will step up.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
