Mets' David Peterson, rotation spot secured, excited to experiment in spring training
Mets pitcher David Peterson during a spring training workout in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — For David Peterson, spring training this year is downright luxurious.
Across eight years in the Mets’ organization, he has experienced all kinds of camps. He has been the intriguing prospect who has no shot of cracking the initial roster but is getting valuable experience. He has been — several times — the guy trying to win a spot with a strong showing. He has been the injured pitcher whose season won’t start when the preseason ends.
And now, for the first time, Peterson is a bona fide major-leaguer. He is a member of the rotation. He has graduated to the security-filled version of spring training.
“It changes things,” he said. “It’s been good to be able to have that comfort but also that responsibility. It’s a good thing to have them put that responsibility on you and say, hey, this is where we see you. Go and do your thing.”
Or as manager Carlos Mendoza put it: “It’s a comfortable spot to be in.”
So when Peterson took the Clover Park mound for his first Grapefruit League appearance in the Mets’ 1-1 tie with the Marlins on Monday, the results were nice, even if they didn’t matter much. He struck out five in three scoreless innings.
Instead of sweating the line in the boxscore, he was and is able to focus more on experimentation. This time, that meant “getting back to game speed” and using all of his pitches, he said. The lefthander also cited a desire to sharpen his four-seam fastball to make it a better complement to his go-to sinker.
Brandon Nimmo highlighted that Peterson has gotten better at mixing in his changeup to lefthanded hitters, which he did only 3% of the time last season (versus 21% of the time against righthanders).
Peterson’s challenge in 2025 is to match the performance that earned him this stability. Last season, once he returned in late May from hip surgery, he had the best year of his career, posting a 2.90 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 21 starts and a personal-best 121 innings. In the postseason, he had multiple standout relief performances, including an impromptu series-clinching save against the Brewers to send the Mets to the NLDS.
Among Peterson’s primary takeaways from 2024 was the importance of throwing strikes. Funny how that works.
“The biggest thing is once I was able to come back and feel heathy and feel like I was moving properly,” Peterson said, “just the consistency in my motion and my mechanics, seeing some of the stuff command-wise.
“Obviously, most starts I’ve had in a season. Career high in first-pitch strikes and strike percentage and race to two strikes — some of those things that really affect performance in a big way as far as getting ahead in counts, getting the hitters behind in the count.”
Peterson, 29, is the Mets’ longest-tenured starting pitcher (and third-longest-tenured pitcher overall behind Drew Smith and Edwin Diaz).
He is in a rotation that features Kodai Senga and converted reliever Clay Holmes. Rounding out the group will be two of Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill.
The only one of the above who threw more innings in the majors than Peterson last year was Canning, but his 171 2⁄3 frames came with a 5.19 ERA. Thus the importance of Peterson.
“The biggest thing is being healthy,” he said, “and having that spring training where everything is planned out for Opening Day.”
Said Mendoza, “We’re counting on him.”
Senga debuts new pitch
In his first exhibition action, Senga debuted a brand-new sinker in two scoreless innings (31 pitches) against the Marlins and a third simulated inning in the bullpen. That was a notable change from the Mets’ initial plan, via Mendoza, of one inning plus two extra in live batting practice. “There wasn’t any convincing or miscommunication,” Senga said through an interpreter. “It was two innings all along. That was my understanding.” . . . Brandon Nimmo has right knee soreness that will keep him out of the lineup until at least Thursday, he said. He hasn’t played since making his Grapefruit League debut Friday. “Low level of concern,” Mendoza said. Nimmo called it “part of getting back into playing” . . . Mendoza said he hopes Starling Marte (right knee soreness) will advance to playing in games within the “next few days.” Whether that is major- or minor-league games is TBD, but either would be progress.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
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