David Peterson, New York Mets ace, was not the label many were expecting to tag the 29-year-old southpaw in 2025, yet here we are with six weeks remaining in the regular season.
The All-Star lefty once again shoved on Tuesday night in DC against the Nationals, allowing just one run on four hits over eight innings with 10 strikeouts and a walk in New York’s 8-1 series-opening victory.
He continues to be the only Mets starter to provide legitimate length on a consistent basis. No other Mets starter has completed six or more innings since Clay Holmes on June 7. Meanwhile, Peterson has gone six-plus eight times during that stretch, including a complete-game six-hit shutout against these very same Nationals on June 11.
“Hell of a job,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s where it starts, when he’s throwing strikes, using all of his pitches, basically competing in the strike zone. The changeup was really good. The curveball, the slider, the sinker. He got groundballs.
“For him to go eight was really good. Solid, in complete control, which was good to see after his last outing. For him to bounce back that way… it was nice, I’m not going to lie… Allowing Petey to work there, we haven’t played a game like that in a while, it feels like.”
Behind Peterson’s gem, the Mets are showing signs of finally stabilizing after a nightmare two months in which they went 19-34. Tuesday night’s triumph was their third-straight win — the first time they’ve done that in three weeks.
Solid outings from the starting rotation have helped. In his MLB debut on Saturday at Citi Field against the Seattle Mariners, top pitching prospect Nolan McLean went 5.1 shutout innings while allowing just two hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.
The very next night in Williamsport, Holmes delivered five innings of one-run ball.
Entering Wednesday night’s middle game, Mets starters have gone five straight games with five innings or more. Compare that to the previous turn in the rotation from Aug. 8-13, and they did not go more than 4.1.
That included a nightmare 3.1 innings from Peterson on Aug. 13 against the Atlanta Braves, in which he yielded six earned runs on five hits with five walks.
“That felt pretty uncharacteristic to me,” he said. “So it was just kind of flushing it and getting on to the next one. I knew exactly what I didn’t do well and needed to work on.”
He executed those tweaks to near perfection in the nation’s capital, further cementing himself as the Mets’ stopper of the summer. He is now 8-5 with a 3.18 ERA.
“I go out there and try to give the team a chance to win, try and be efficient,” he said. “Being on the attack, getting ahead early in the counts helps that. The more efficient you can be, the deeper you can get in the games.”
