José Alejandro Buttó (born March 19, 1998) is a Venezuelan professional
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...
for the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.
Career
Buttó signed with the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
as an international
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
on June 2, 2017. He made his professional debut with the
Dominican Summer League Mets, posting a 1.44 ERA across 15 appearances (8 starts). In 2018, he split time between the rookie–level
Kingsport Mets and Low–A
Brooklyn Cyclones
The Brooklyn Cyclones are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and play at Maimonides Park, just off the Coney Island ...
, making 12 appearances (11 starts) and recording a 3.86 ERA with 55 strikeouts in innings of work.
Buttó spent the entirety of the 2019 season with the Single–A
Columbia Fireflies. In 27 games (25 starts), he went 4–10 with a 3.62 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 112.0 innings pitched. Buttó did not play in 2020, as the minor league season was cancelled after the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
struck. He returned to action in 2021, making 20 combined starts between High–A Brooklyn and the Double–A
Binghamton Mets
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...
. In innings of work, Buttó posted a 4–6 record and 3.83 ERA with 110 strikeouts.
On November 19, 2021, the Mets added Buttó to their
40-man roster
A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...
to protect him from the
Rule 5 draft
The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...
. Buttó was assigned to the Double–A
Binghamton Mets
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...
to begin the 2022 season, and posted a 6–5 record and 4.00 ERA with 108 strikeouts across 20 games (18 starts).
On August 21, 2022, Buttó was promoted to the major leagues for the first time, to make a spot start against the
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...
. In his debut, Buttó allowed 7 runs on 9 hits and 2 walks across 4.0 innings of work. He was optioned back to Triple–A Syracuse the following day. In 8 games (7 starts) for Syracuse, Buttó registered a 2.45 ERA with 30 strikeouts in innings pitched.
Buttó was optioned to the Triple-A
Syracuse Mets
The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which ope ...
to begin the 2023 season. He returned to the major leagues several times across the season, with his longest stay coming after the September roster expansion. Over 9 games (7 starts) for the major league team in 2023, Buttó recorded a 1–4 record and a 3.64 ERA, with 38 strikeouts across 42 innings pitched.
Buttó was again optioned to Triple–A Syracuse to begin the 2024 season after he was beaten out by
Tylor Megill for the final rotation spot. After injuries to multiple members of the Mets' starting staff, Buttó was quickly brought back to the major leagues on April 4 as the 27th man on the roster to start one game of that day's doubleheader. After the game,
Carlos Mendoza told the media that Buttó had earned more opportunities. In seven starts before being sent down to Syracuse on May 14, he posted a 3.08 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 38 innings.
On July 2, 2024, Buttó was called up from Syracuse to replace reliever
Tyler Jay in the depleted bullpen. That day he pitched two scoreless innings and got the win in a 7–2 victory against the
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
.
He recorded his first major league
save on July 10 in a 6–2 win over the Nationals. In 2024, across 37 games as a starter and a reliever, Buttó posted a 7-3 record, a 2.55 ERA, and 79 strikeouts across 74 innings pitched.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butto, Jose
1998 births
Living people
Binghamton Rumble Ponies players
Brooklyn Cyclones players
Columbia Fireflies players
Dominican Summer League Mets players
Kingsport Mets players
Major League Baseball pitchers
Major League Baseball players from Venezuela
21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen
New York Mets players
Syracuse Mets players
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic
Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States