At some point, a bad stretch stops being bad luck. David Peterson entered against the Cardinals looking for stability on Wednesday evening, looking for answers, and to remind everyone why he was one of the Mets’ most dependable arms just a season ago. Instead, the questions surrounding his performance only got louder.
After Austin Warren opened the game, Peterson was tasked with handling the bulk of the innings. The assignment lasted just 3 2/3 innings, during which he surrendered six earned runs. By the time manager Carlos Mendoza emerged from the dugout to take the ball, the Cardinals had built an insurmountable lead.
The Mets would go on to lose the game, 9-2, having been outscored by the Cardinals 16-2 in the first two games of this series.
Peterson now owns a 5.75 ERA across 61.0 innings, a far cry from the pitcher who earned an All-Star nod a year ago and looked to have finally found his groove.
What’s made Peterson’s struggles particularly frustrating is that they haven’t arrived all at once. A rough start followed by a solid outing. A bullpen move and a promising appearance, followed by another blowup. The struggles are waves.
The Mets have shuffled him between roles throughout the season, trying to find a formula that works, but nothing has stuck. Instead, Wednesday served as a reminder that the problems run deeper than role definition.
The command has wavered, and traffic on the bases has piled up. Peterson left many of his pitches hanging throughout Wednesday’s outing, surrendering seven hits while walking two.
Last season, the southpaw authored the best stretch of his career, posting a 3.06 ERA through the end of July and even throwing the first complete-game shutout of his career.
However, he struggled in the latter part of the season, and the second-half collapse that began last August has bled into 2026. Peterson has yet to fully rediscover the version of himself that seemed to be emerging as a frontline starter. Nevertheless, Mendoza believes he can figure it out.
“I look at him as a guy that we’re going to need to get big outs for us,” he said postgame. “I’m confident in Peterson even though it’s been hard for him. You continue to trust him and continue to work with him.”
The Mets don’t necessarily need Peterson to be an ace. They just need reliability. And no matter what Mendoza says, right now, it’s not clear where they’ll get it.
