The Mets pitching carousel continues to spin.
Right-hander Jose Butto was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to July 1 with an undisclosed illness. The club declined to elaborate on the illness out of respect for the pitcher’s privacy, but he’s expected to return following the All-Star break. Right-hander Chris Devenski was called up from Triple-A Syracuse.
This comes only one day after the Mets placed starting pitcher Paul Blackburn and reliever Dedniel Nuñez on the IL. Blackburn was set to start Friday afternoon’s Subway Series game at Citi Field, but the Mets went with Syracuse starter Justin Hagenman instead. This brings the total number of pitchers on the IL to 12, including left-hander Brooks Raley and right-hander Drew Smith, who both started the season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Three pitchers have been lost for the season, likely four with Nuñez who will require Tommy John surgery to repair a partially-torn ulnar collateral ligament, and the Mets still don’t have a starting pitcher for Sunday’s series finale.
Raley is currently on a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton and is expected to return in the next month, and the Mets could get two starters back after the All-Star break, if not sooner. Kodai Senga will make a rehab start with Double-A on Saturday, and Sean Manaea will make his final rehab start Tuesday. The Mets had hoped to have Manaea back by now, but two setbacks have pushed his timeline back further.
“We’re not going to sit here and feel sorry for ourselves, nobody will,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday morning. “I said it last night, I’ve said it the whole time, our job is to go out there and find a way to win a baseball game. Our mentality is, what do we need to get through today? We’re facing a lot of adversity, but everyone goes through it.
“So here we are, beginning of a Subway Series, and our job, like I said, is go out there, compete and win a baseball game.”
Realistically, the Mets will have to do a bullpen game Sunday. Devenski, right-hander Austin Warren or left-hander Brandon Waddell could be options to start or open, but the Mets need to see who they need in the first two games before making a decision.
“We’ve got to get through today, we’ll get through tomorrow,” Mendoza said. “Then after the game on Saturday, we’ll have a better idea for Sunday.”
