QUEENS, NY — Despite late-summer struggles, David Peterson feels as though there is not much to prove when it comes to cementing his spot within the New York Mets’ postseason rotation, should they make it.
“I mean, I am a starter. I think that’s point blank,” Peterson told amNewYork when asked if there was anything he needed to show management during the final week of the regular season. “That’s how it is. You get into the playoffs, and you’re going to have guys [move to the bullpen], especially early on. You need three starters, maybe four for the second round. So you’re going to have a couple guys that are gonna go into the bullpen.”
Peterson has been the only New York starter who has been immune to the ever-fluctuating, constantly changing rotation this season, which has come out of necessity. Griffin Canning, Frankie Montas, and Tylor Megill are done for the season. Kodai Senga was so bad upon returning from a hamstring injury in July that he accepted a demotion to Triple-A to work on his stuff — and it still isn’t there yet.
Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes are piggybacking off each other, with the day’s starter changing twice in as many turns of the rotation. Manaea wasn’t able to rediscover his elite stuff from last season after missing the first three-plus months of 2025 with an oblique injury. Holmes has struggled to go deep in games amidst a career-high workload — this is his first season as a starter following seven as a reliever.
Peterson, the 30-year-old southpaw, had been the rotation’s true north star. He had a 2.83 ERA across his first 21 starts of the season, which earned him his first-career All-Star selection. The calendar flip to August, though, was not kind to him. In his last eight starts, he has a 7.59 ERA, and has watched as top prospects Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and even Jonah Tong have outperformed him.
It adds even more importance to the last week of the regular season. Not only does Peterson have to help his club ward off the surging Cincinnati Reds for the third and final National League Wild Card spot, but he has to prove to the organization that he can be relied upon to get the ball in a postseason series — something that he has struggled to do as of late while contending with the constant turnover around the rotation.
“No matter who’s in the rotation, the more consistent we are in a routine, the better results you’re going to end up getting,” Peterson said. “I think that’s big in terms of, whoever’s in the rotation is in the rotation, and then let’s set the schedule and keep a good routine that guys and let guys be as consistent as possible.”
But his struggles, coupled with the versatility he showed last year, leave things open-ended for him, even if he is the most likely veteran to get a playoff start rather than manager Carlos Mendoza going with three young prospects in succession. Peterson posted a 2.90 ERA in 2024 and was a stalwart in the postseason despite wearing many hats.
He closed out the Mets’ Wild Card Series-clinching win in Game 3, picking up his first career save in Milwaukee against the Brewers. He then served as the long reliever twice for Senga in the NLDS and NLCS before starting Game 5 at Citi Field.
Despite excelling in such a role, Peterson appears to want to avoid repeating it in 2025 if the Mets make the playoffs.
“It’s never fun to be in that situation when you’re either moved around or the rotation is kind of getting mixed up a little bit, but it’s about the team and what’s best for the group, and keeping our standing in the playoff picture,” he said. “I think once you start getting into the playoffs, things move around a lot. We need everyone available as much as possible. The whole structure of everything goes out the window once you get there because it’s all about winning and moving on to the next day.”
