Buck Showalter said Carlos Carrasco may not be done as a starting pitcher with the Mets.
The 36-year-old remained available out of the bullpen — as he was Wednesday — for the weekend series against Seattle, but the Mets manager wouldn’t rule out Carrasco taking another turn in the rotation.
“I wouldn’t preclude anyone from starting a game,” Showalter said before the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Mariners on Friday night at Citi Field. “We’re not there yet. They’re all in play right now, especially with these off days.”
But there’s no plan to use him as of Friday, with David Peterson set to start Saturday, Tylor Megill on Sunday, followed by Jose Quintana on Tuesday.
Carrasco’s ERA of 6.80 would be the highest in the majors if he had thrown enough innings to qualify, but he has pitched just 90 innings.
His last outing was another mess, giving up five runs in just 1 ²/₃ innings.
Jose Butto, recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, is another option out of the pen — as well as a potential addition as a spot starter.
Butto, 25, appeared in four games — two starts — with the Mets earlier this season.
With rosters expanding to 28 on Friday, the Mets called up three players — Butto and infielders Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty.
To make room for all three, infielder Danny Mendick was optioned to Syracuse.
Mendick had an OPS of just .513 in 66 plate appearances.
Ex-Met reliever Dominic Leone was activated to the Mariners’ roster before Friday’s game.
Leone was claimed off waivers by Seattle on Thursday from the Angels, who put six players on waivers following a second-half nosedive and Shohei Ohtani being shut down from pitching due to a UCL injury.
Leone, 31, appeared in 31 games for the Mets before he was shipped to the Angels at the team’s fire sale at the trade deadline in exchange for Jeremiah Jackson, a 23-year-old shortstop who is now with Double-A Binghamton, and cash.
Brandon Nimmo’s game-tying solo homer in the sixth was his 20th of the season. It’s the first time the outfielder has hit the milestone in his career.
Daniel Vogelbach’s go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth gave him 14 RBIs over his last 17 games.
Pete Alonso announced his The Love of the Game initiative on Friday, which partners with his Alonso Foundation to provide grants to several area organizations.
Alonso said the goal of the initiative is to provide funds to local little leagues, expand pet adoption and help support families of first responders.
It began Friday with a $10,000 donation to Castle Hill Little League in The Bronx.
DJ Stewart was back in the lineup Friday, looking to continue his torrid two-week stretch that brought his OPS from .593 to 1.015 in two weeks. He entered Friday having gone 17-for-45 with three doubles and eight homers in his previous 13 games.
He has nine home runs this year, closing in on Stewart’s career-high 12 homers with Baltimore in 2021.