Mets place Edwin Uceta on the IL, call up José Butto

The Mets, who were in need of a starter for tonight’s game, placed Edwin Uceta on the 15-day IL with a left ankle sprain and called up José Butto. The right-hander was immediately inserted into the starting spot for tonight’s contest against the Nationals.

Butto made one start for the Mets back on April 16. In that outing against the Athletics, he tossed five innings of one-run ball. He surrendered five hits and walked four while striking out two. The 25-year-old, who has not pitched in a game since that appearance at the big league level, owns a 1.86 ERA in 9 ²⁄₃ innings for Syracuse this year. He also made one start for the Mets last season, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits over four innings pitched.

Because Butto was sent down on April 17 following his start in Oakland, he would have been ineligible to be recalled prior to May 2nd—15 days after his demotion—without someone landing on the injured list. With the Max Scherzer suspension, the team was in need of a starter for this game, and they would also need one for their April 30 game against the Braves—Scherzer is eligible to return from his league-sanctioned exile on May 1.

Uceta made one appearance for New York, and it was a valuable one. The right-hander pitched three scoreless innings in relief of an ineffective David Peterson to close out the team’s loss to the Giants on April 22. As a result, he spared the team’s overworked bullpen.