Mets finalize rotation and offer a glimpse into their future

Tylor Megill won the final spot in the rotation for the Mets, but there's a big arm not too far behind him and José Buttó

Michael Baron

Mar 21, 2024

The Mets defeated the Marlins 6-3 in Jupiter on Wednesday (Box)
Christian Scott started for the Mets and was very sharp, allowing just a solo home run over four innings with just two hits allowed and seven strikeouts
Brandon Nimmo drove in three runs with two opposite field hits
Zack Short continued his strong spring with a hit and two runs scored on the day plus some defensive gems in the field
Edwin Díaz pitched in relief and allowed a run and two walks - he will pitch again today on the minor league side

Roster Moves 🗞️

José Buttó optioned to Triple-A Syracuse

Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-Up: Mets (13-10) vs. Tigers (16-8)

Where: Joker Marchant Stadium - Lakeland, FL

Starters: RHP Dominic Hamel (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Manning (1-0, 3.75 ERA)

When: 1:05 PM EDT

Where To Watch: MLB.tv

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The rotation is set, but there’s something coming up behind them! ✍️

The Mets settled their contest in the rotation on Wednesday when they announced José Buttó had been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, thereby giving the fifth starter spot to Tylor Megill.

Both had very strong camps and as I wrote over the weekend, Buttó had this presence and determination to him this spring which enhanced his candidacy as well. He was equally deserving to Megill, who fanned 16 in 15.2 IP in camp.

Buttó might’ve actually pitched better in his 10 innings this spring, or at least the final line would have you think he did. He fanned nine in ten innings and allowed only one run himself.

Now, this wasn’t a numbers game for either pitcher. Megill has two options left, Buttó had one before the Mets cashed it in yesterday. My feeling is, the Mets are trusting the development of Megill’s new splitter, which they’ve characterized as an elite pitch plus the experience he’s had in the big leagues to earn this spot over Buttó, who to be fair, has had command issues over the course of his career. Yes, he was outstanding in his short stint with the Mets last September and obviously put on a show this spring, there’s no question about it.

Besides, the race may not be over.

The Mets have 13 straight games between April 5 and 17 with no off-day, so Buttó is definitely coming back to pitch in that stretch of games. If he proves he belongs again, and it isn’t going as well as they’d like for Megill, they can always option Megill for a bit and keep Buttó in the rotation at that point.

So, we will see how this shakes out. But kudos to both for an outstanding camp.

So, the starting five out of the gate will be this:

José Quintana
Luis Severino
Sean Manaea
Adrian Houser
Tylor Megill

Now, I know it’s easy to get lost in the monotony of spring training this time of year. For the average fan, a game like yesterday which featured perhaps 3-4 familiar names can be a little boring, and you may not have seen it anyway since it was during the work or school day and it wasn’t available in our local market. But if you had MLB.tv, were working from home, off from school or just bagging both, you might’ve been able to catch a glimpse of what Steve Cohen was talking about as far as what the Mets have in the pitching pipeline.

The Mets threw Christian Scott against the Marlins yesterday, and outside of one hanging slider which got tattooed, he put on a clinic. He was pounding the strike zone with mid-90s fastballs and dazzling the Marlins hitters with an electric slider and a ton of spin.

Scott is knowing for his strike-ability and yesterday created no illusions about the scouting report. He was routinely ahead of hitters and was flat out dominant. While I was watching him I was saying to myself, “this could play against any team right now.” And believe me, I’ve seen enough of these so-called highly touted prospects and said the opposite about them when seeing them pre-call up.

Scott, 24, was drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 draft by the Mets and was named the organization’s pitcher of the year in 2023. He pitched at three levels for the Mets, starting at Low-A St. Lucie and making it all the way to Double-A Binghamton by the end of the year while compiling a 2.57 ERA with 107 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 87 innings.

He’s not the next one up, of course. That guy would probably be Buttó. But if he can stay healthy continue this string of command and control over the next few months, there’s no reason to believe Scott’s stuff won’t play in the big leagues this year. I mean, this stuff and command would play right now - he just needs more experience in the mid to upper levels of the minors.

The most impressive part and perhaps under-discussed part of Scott’s journey was the sustained success he enjoyed after jumping to Double-A last season. He struck out 77 and walked just eight in 67 innings after the jump, perhaps demonstrating the greatest sign of his professional maturity in the process.

Of course, it was just one outing but it’s clearly a sign of things to come for Scott, the Mets and this organization as a whole. This is the blueprint for Cohen and David Stearns going forward because, as Cohen said just this week, pitching is really expensive.

Let’s see if they’ll be able to stick to it.

Around The League 🚩

The Dodgers fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter amid allegations he stole money from Ohtani in an effort to pay gambling debts (LA Times)
The Rangers brought in Michael Lorenzen on a one-year, $4.5 million deal (Athletic)
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was shelled in his big league debut in Seoul against the Padres (MLB.com)
Blake Snell - who recently signed with the Giants - hopes to be in the rotation for the club’s first series of the year (ESPN)

Special shoutout today to Homage, a big fan of Just Mets who was kind enough to send us some cool, vintage-styled Mets swag ahead of Opening Day. Be sure to check out their line of awesome Mets gear as well as gear for all sports teams.