Is prospect Jose Butto worth getting excited about?

New York Mets prospect Jose Butto has had a good, not great professional career. He’s now 13-19 with a 3.39 ERA in his first 321.1 innings of work down on the farm. A prospect that falls somewhere in the mid-teens on most lists for the franchise, he’s closing in on a potential MLB debut.

Butto’s spot on the 40-man roster helps his case further. If the Mets need an arm to start this season, Butto could get the call regardless of the role.

He’s one of the deeper cuts from the 40-man roster. If he pitches well, he should get a chance. But should we be at all excited about it?

Jose Butto is a Mets prospect with his back up against the wall

Butto has quietly climbed up the Mets prospect ranking on MLB.com 11 spots since the end of 2020. He went from being ranked 25th to his current spot at number 14.

He has been passed by a couple of newcomers. Draft picks from last season, Dominic Hamel (12) and Calvin Ziegler (13) have jumped ahead of Butto. Robert Dominguez, the 20-year-old pitcher a few years behind Butto, also ranks higher than him. All of these guys are in the next class after Matt Allan and J.T. Ginn, the pair of Mets pitching prospects most would classify as untouchable in trade talks.

Butto made it to Double-A last year, going 3-2 with a 3.12 ERA in his 8 starts with Binghamton. Together with his performance at High-A in Brooklyn, he managed to put together a 4-6 season with a 3.83 ERA in 98.2 innings of work. It was a nice thing to see after missing all of 2020 due to the cancelation of the minor league season. He had already previously given the Mets 112 innings in 2019 complete with a respectable 3.62 ERA.

For a minor leaguer, innings are pretty important. Butto has shown the ability to log them and that should bode well for any future hopes to sneak into the rotation.

At the same time, this could make him trade fodder. He’s young and controllable. No MLB clock has started ticking on his free agency. If the Mets go shopping and the team they strike a deal with wants an arm, Butto is one of the closest to major league ready.

Butto hasn’t gotten much attention at all on the farm but this year could be different if he stays with the organization. Very likely to begin the year in Triple-A, he could be this year’s minor leaguer fans clamor to see get promoted mid-year as the rotation struggles. The freshness and potential alone should have us a little eager to see what he can do. It has been a while since the Mets have had a pitcher from their farm system debut and stay productive for a long period of time. Perhaps Butto is next.