It’s a wild and depressing idea for Mets fans to think that Mets boasted one of the league’s most feared rotations as recently as last year.
After the team acquired Marcus Stroman With the 2019 trading deadline, the rotation has three men who can send three-digit numbers Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard And Zack Wheeler.. Behind them were two solid pitchers in the shape of Marcus Stroman. Steven Matz..
It’s worth noting how quickly things change.
The two biggest hits that stood out were that the club couldn’t stick to Wheeler and that Syndergaard had to take it. Tommy John Surgery. And Straumann’s decision to opt out of this pandemic in a shortened season was out of their control, but it was another costly blow to their depth.
Overall, Matz as a second starter and veteran Rick Porcello And Michael Wacha The Mets starting staff climbed the hill every five days, scoring 5.37 ERA, the fifth worst mark in baseball.
But when Mets is trying to rebuild and reform the starting pitcher, there is one man who can be the key to turning things around. It’s a 25-year-old left. David Peterson..
Although not a sleeper for the Mets farm system, given that he was the prospect of an organization’s consensus stop 10, Peterson’s performance and quick adjustments to the big league were still a welcome surprise.
With 10 appearances (9 starts), he posted 3.44 ERA and hit 40 with 49 innings. He never threw more than a double A pitch and had no minor league season, so he couldn’t ease the workload. It’s certainly worth noting how quickly Peterson fits.
Peterson was drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2017 draft and recorded 20 strikeouts in a single game while at the University of Oregon. His talent has been known for a long time, but now he is finally shown at the highest level and ready to stay for a long time.
With the ugly struggle of Matz (9.68 ERA) and basically everyone in rotation except DeGrom, Peterson already has the claim that he is the second best starter on the team. This is partly a testament to the thinness of the rotation, but it’s important not to devalue what Peterson can give them, as Mets is desperately looking for starting pitchers.
It’s not surprising to assume that DeGrom will have another ace-like season towards 2021, but Peterson could be a building block that really solidifies the middle of the rotation. Looking for depth beyond him is certainly a challenge, but continued growth from him and a return to form from Mats may begin to put this starting staff back in the right direction.
