The David Peterson Experience continues to go awry as Mets get smacked by the Bay
New York is now 7-2 on their West Coast road trip following a Saturday loss. Plus, how David Peterson is pitching his way out of the Mets rotation.
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets fell to the Giants by a score of 7-4 on Saturday afternoon (box)
LHP David Peterson struggled once again, allowing seven earned runs over five innings — he now has a 7.36 ERA in five starts this season
CF Brandon Nimmo continued his hot hitting, going 1-for-4 with a solo home run (2) on the day
3B Brett Baty went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored in the loss
Old friend and current Giants 3B Wilmer Flores slugged a home run against his former team in the 5th inning
RHP Edwin Uceta saved the Mets bullpen by finishing out the game with three hitless innings
New York is now 7-2 on their current road trip and can tie their best record for a West Coast swing with a victory in tonight’s series finale
Who’s Hot 🔥
Brandon Nimmo is 19-for-39 (.487) on this West Coast road trip with two home runs, four doubles, seven RBI and eight runs scored in nine games on this road trip
Daniel Vogelbach has driven in seven runs and has a .780 OPS in nine games on this road trip
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets at Giants
Where: Oracle Park - San Francisco, CA
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (3-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Ross Stripling (0-1, 7.30 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: ESPN
The David Peterson Experience continues to go off the rails ✍🏻
Things are not going as expected for Mets left-handed starter David Peterson – and that’s being kind.
After being such an integral swing piece for the club last season, pitching to a 3.83 ERA and 3.64 FIP over 28 appearances last season (19 starts), Peterson was once again called upon to fill-in for the Mets to start this season following the injury to José Quintana.
Even with Tylor Megill, José Butto, Joey Lucchesi and Elieser Hernández in Triple-A, Peterson was rightly given the first nod once the injuries began to hit this rotation.
To say that Peterson has not taken advantage of that opportunity would be an understatement.
Following Saturday afternoon’s clunker where he allowed seven runs in five innings, Peterson has a 7.36 ERA over five starts this season (which is only the second-worst mark on the team thanks to Carlos Carrasco’s slow start to the year).
What is most troubling about Peterson’s early struggles is that his biggest kryptonite has always been throwing strikes and getting in trouble with walking batters. But after yesterday’s start, Peterson is now walking batters less than he ever has in his career – averaging 3.2 walks per nine innings — so why are the results moving in the opposite direction?
This season, Peterson is getting hit harder than ever. He’s already allowed seven home runs (the most by any pitcher in baseball) over just 25.2 innings pitched, which is good for an average of 2.5 home runs per nine innings. And while is walks are down, Peterson is allowing far more hits than he ever has before at the big league level. After holding batters to 7.9 hits per nine innings last season, that number has ballooned up to 11.6 hits per nine this year. A big part of this equation? The diminishing returns of Peterson’s slider.
“The slider has been something I've struggled with,” Peterson said after Satuday’s loss. “It's usually my go-to pitch.”
In 2022, opposing hitters batted just .171 with a .281 slugging percentage against Peterson’s slider. This season, though, they’re batting a whopping .298 with a .553 slugging percentage against that very same slider. What was supposed to be his out pitch has now suddenly become his biggest issue, and that presents a whole world of problems for Peterson and the Mets.
New York’s rotation is in shambles right now, with Justin Verlander and José Quintana yet to throw a single pitch, Carlos Carrasco on the injured list and Max Scherzer now serving a 10-game suspension, so no changes are on the immediate horizon. That being said, Scherzer and Verlander should be making their returns to the team shortly with Carrasco likely not too far behind them. And after Joey Lucceshi’s phenomenal scoreless start on Friday and Tylor Megill’s hot start to the season, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if they got the benefit of the doubt to stick around over Peterson.
Peterson has shown the ability to get hitters out on this level and has the stuff to do it. At times watching Peterson gives me flashbacks to Jon Niese and Steven Matz, another pair of homegrown lefties with great stuff that had trouble staying consistent at this level. There are differences between each of these players in terms of stuff, expectations and mentality, but the similarities are there as well.
For Peterson, he has the chance to write himself a better Mets story than those other two. He may just need some time in the minor leagues to find himself once more before he gets there.
Around the League 🚩
The Rays are now a perfect 12-0 at home after Randy Arozarena’s walk-off knock vs the White Sox
The Yankees outlasted the Blue Jays on a walk-off hit by DJ LeMahieu in the bottom of the 9th
Rangers OF Adolis García had a night for the ages, going 5-for-5 with three home runs, two doubles and eight RBI in their 18-3 win over the A’s