David Peterson remains a remarkable standout on the Mets team

Mets Bullpen Challenges and Peterson’s Performance

The Mets bullpen has been struggling lately, largely due to the starting rotation not consistently going deep into games. This issue has led to an increased number of roster moves as the trade deadline approached.

Interestingly, the standout exception has been all-star left-hander David Peterson. He’s managed to pull off six-inning outings in seven of his last nine appearances. His latest showing came in the Mets’ first game after acquiring three key relief pitchers, where he delivered a solid six innings but the team ultimately lost 4-3 in 10 innings to the Giants at Citi Field.

Before Peterson, the last Mets starter to pitch at least six innings was Clay Holmes back on June 7th, which is almost two months ago now. It’s been quite the stretch.

“I think that’s the focus for all of us. Everyone is out trying to do their best for our team,” Peterson said after the game. He further emphasized, “Baseball will sort itself out, but I really try to push myself to pitch as deeply as I can and hand it over to our strengthened bullpen.” He acknowledges the importance of going deep into games.

In this recent outing, he did give up two runs early, one from an RBI double by Casey Schmidt and another on an infield hit by Junghooly. However, he settled down and managed to keep the Giants off the scoreboard for the next four innings until the seventh when the reliever let in a run, bringing the score to 3-0.

Despite the challenges, Peterson got the Mets close enough, and they staged a comeback in the seventh and eighth innings to force extra innings, though they ultimately ran out of steam in the 10th.

“I felt good about it. I just wish I could’ve left the game in a better spot,” Peterson commented. He noted that even though there was a bit of breathing room, their efforts to come back were optimistic. “There are definitely things I want to address for next time,” he added.

This season, Peterson has pitched 127 innings over 21 starts, already surpassing his previous best of 121 innings from last year. “The aim is to consistently pitch deeper into games every season. Where I end up stat-wise, well, that’ll unfold as it should,” Peterson explained. “Last year was about building my endurance to stay healthy for the season’s duration.”