FINNs NATIONAL LEAGUE TOP PITCHER PROP I- Jose Butto Strikeouts Thrown Over 4.5 (-120)
2% game rating || Starting Pitchers: List Butto and Mikolas.
Home Plate Umpire: Dan Merzel is pitcher-friendly and is an asset to Mets' right-hander Jose Butto. Mikolas pitches to contact and is not assisted when Merzel is manning home plate. Merzel's pitcher-friendly profile comes via pitchers who challenge the plate and work at a quicker-than-league-average tempo … Butto has the favorable edge in terms of Merzel being assigned to work the Busch Stadium dish tonight.
Venue: Busch Stadium in St Louis || Weather: The Tuesday night forecast in downtown St Louis calls for first-pitch temperatures in the mid-70s with no precipitation and a 4-8 mph breeze blowing out to right-centerfield.
Butto has grown by leaps and bounds since his late-season work in the Mets rotation. The Mets' righthander earned a victory over the Marlins, the postseason Fish of a season ago in September, and the victory moved his gameday surface numbers to easy-on-the-eye's 3.09 ERA and 8.2 K/9 through 32 innings pitched. Free passes, command rather, has been an issue for the Mets' young righty in the past but he has had some solid outings this season against better-than-average lineups. The Mets Tuesday night starter in Busch struck out six Tigers across six frames of a no-decision in his season debut and since has struck out nine Kansas City hitters in six innings followed by a turn against the Dodgers in which the righty punched out six Dodgers in 4.1 frames while walking five. Butto's command issues are not going away overnight but the situations and the newfound experience that Butto has ingested have allowed free passes in April and early May easier to navigate. Jose Butto Strikeouts Thrown Over 4.5 (-120)