Monday night was supposed to be Max Scherzer's turn in the rotation, but with his oblique injury, the Mets had to turn to David Peterson.
The lefty entered Monday night with an ERA under 2.00 in in his spot big league outings this year, but with Scherzer and Jacob deGrom out at a while longer, the Mets are hoping they can get what the former first-round pick gave them on Monday night.
Peterson allowed just two runs (a two-run homer) on three hits while walking one and striking out six in his six innings of work against the defending NL West champion San Francisco Giants.
“Felt great. My mentality is always one pitch at a time," Peterson said after recording his second win of the season. "When you’re in a rhythm like that, it’s pretty easy to build off good pitches. Definitely got behind in some counts that made it a little tougher in those first couple innings, second inning especially. But attack the zone, get ahead, [Patrick] Mazeika and I were on the same page the whole night. It’s good to have that momentum.”
Peterson was given a 5-2 lead thanks to a five-run third inning from the Mets, but he put the tying run at the plate in the bottom half of the inning. He came away unscathed, though, and retired the final 11 batters he faced.
“Next pitch. That one’s over with, that ball’s gone, and I got a new ball in my hands, so on to the next pitch, I gotta get the next guy, and I have to get out of that inning and limit the damage," Peterson said of his mindset after allowing the early homer.
“I thought (Peterson) was almost too strong early," said manager Buck Showalter. "It’s been, like, nine days. I think once he – I don’t want to say got a little tired – he started really getting in a good rhythm. You can tell he was kind of jumping out there a little bit, and he’s not usually up like that. He was actually too long. I love the way he responded after the homer. That was a good shot in the arm for him to give us six innings.”
Now, Peterson owns a 2.16 ERA (six earned runs/25.0 innings) at the big league level this season. It's the best he's looked so far in the pros, but he also mentioned how much he's matured entering this season after battling injury last season.
“I think it’s a little different now," he said of his confidence level. "My rookie year, felt good. I’ve always had confidence in my stuff and my ability, but you go through things. Last year, I did a lot of learning. There was some highs and some lows. I felt like I came into a position in spring training where I learned a good amount from last year and was healthy from the injury. I think it was a good offseason, good spring training, and then just keep building off of that, stay healthy.”
Tylor Megill played catch on Monday, and the two aces will eventually return, but as Peterson continues to pitch the way he has, the Mets will have a pretty good problem regarding their arms.