SF Giants are learning the Jose Butto limitation the NY Mets already knew

So what has Jose Butto been up to since getting traded to the San Francisco Giants? Packaged alongside youngsters Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell, Butto had been rock solid in the Giants bullpen until this past weekend. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise. He was one of the steadiest members of the Mets relief corps in 2024.

Conveniently making his Giants debut versus the Mets at the start of the month, Butto technically blew a save when a fly ball plated the tying run. However, the run was charged to Joey Lucchesi rather than Butto. It’s one of those scorecard situations where maybe the player who receives a part of the blame shouldn’t have any finger wagged in his direction.

Since then, Butto has been on the mound regularly for the Giants. He hadn’t allowed a run until this past Saturday when he was handed the loss and blown save in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays with both runs charged to Butto. What happened? He pitched for the second straight day.

The Mets couldn’t use Jose Butto on back-to-back days and the Giants learned why the hard way

A still credible 2.84 ERA in 6.1 innings for the Giants has Butto trending in the right direction. His walk and strikeout rate has been similar to what he posted with the Mets this season.

Butto was used 3 times without a day off in between appearances this year. The first time was on April 23 when he pitched a clean 8th inning in a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately, when he took the mound next, Butto was charged with 3 runs in 0.2 innings in a loss versus the Washington Nationals.

Butto took the mound on May 26 and 27th with predictable results. He threw 14 pitches and 0.2 scoreless versus the Chicago White Sox in the first of two straight days. Two earned runs in his inning of work on the second day would follow. Luckily, the Mets won the game anyway.

The Mets always preferred to avoid using Butto on consecutive days. They practically had to again about a week later without much success. After playing 10 innings versus the Los Angeles Dodgers the day prior, with Butto finishing it off for a save on 7 pitches, he came back the next day to pitch the 10th again. On another 7 pitches, he gave up the game-winning run and took the loss. It was the last time they’d pitch him on consecutive days; something they avoided entirely in 2024.

Butto was a stellar reliever for the Mets at times, but not being able to trust him for a second straight day is a problem when you don’t have minor league options or a bullpen with many players you can send to the minors. Ideally someone who’d get two days off in between appearances, it’s this attribute he’s going to need to overcome to ever stabilize himself as a truly good big league reliever.