David Peterson to rejoin Mets, face Brewers on Tuesday
Mets starting pitcher David Peterson delivers against the Padres during the first inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on April 11. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PHILADELPHIA — Needing a starting pitcher Tuesday, the Mets plan to go back to a familiar name: David Peterson.
Peterson will take the rotation spot created by Tylor Megill’s recent demotion to Triple-A Syracuse, potentially for as few as two turns if Jose Quintana returns in the first week of July, as expected.
The Mets had sent Peterson down to Triple-A this year after he posted an 8.08 ERA in eight starts in the majors.
“There’s just a couple pitches that cost me,” Peterson said before his demotion. “It’s been that way quite a bit this year.”
In his past five outings with Syracuse, he has gotten crushed by minor-leaguers, too. He has a 6.00 ERA and 1.79 WHIP in that stretch, with opposing hitters batting .292 with an .883 OPS.
Peterson’s problems have stemmed from a lack of command of all of his pitches as well as the loss of a feel for his slider, which usually is his best offering. “I know what he wasn’t doing here that he needed to get better at. I hope he has,” manager Buck Showalter said.
“He’s been working on it. It was a point of emphasis — command [overall] and the slider shape and command of that.”
The Mets could have inserted Joey Lucchesi, who has fared much better lately, into the rotation. Showalter said he and general manager Billy Eppler had been discussing their options since last week, before Megill’s most recent start.
Because Lucchesi pitched for Syracuse on Friday, it took him out of the running. He has a 2.39 ERA since heading back to Syracuse.
Why Peterson over Lucchesi?
“Some people will look at the peripheral numbers and tell you they’re pitching about the same,” Showalter said.
He declined to specify which statistics suggest that.
The rehabbers
Quintana, working his way back from rib surgery in March, made his third rehabilitation start Sunday, going four innings (one run) for High-A Brooklyn.
Elieser Hernandez (right shoulder strain) also tossed an inning for Brooklyn, the first game of his restarted rehab assignment.
Extra bases
Pete Alonso said he is OK and will play Monday after a ninth-inning drilling from the Phillies’ Craig Kimbrel left a red welt on his left shoulder. “A standard hit-by-pitch,” he called it . . . The Mets claimed righthanded reliever Reed Garrett, 30, off waivers from the Orioles and assigned him to Syracuse. Garrett had been having a good year in Triple-A and has a 7.90 ERA in 22 major-league appearances . . . Righthander Landon Marceaux, acquired from the Angels for Eduardo Escobar on Friday, made his organizational debut Sunday, allowing five runs in two innings for Double-A Binghamton.
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.
