David Peterson Banishes Arizona Demons With Impressive Start

It proved to be “second time’s the charm” for David Peterson in Arizona on Friday.

After giving up five runs and failing to get out of the first inning during his first career start in Arizona in 2021, Peterson banished those particular demons with a solid start against the Diamondbacks as the Mets eventually won 6-5 in extra innings.

Filling in for the injured Taijuan Walker in the rotation, Peterson held up his end of the bargain by contributing yet another superb outing from a group of starters that have led the way in MLB in the opening weeks of 2022.

His night started off well as he worked a one-two-three inning in the first with Cooper Hummel lining out before Ketel Marte and Matt Davidson both grounded out, before Peterson breezed through the second as he forced all three batters to ground out.

Peterson was cruising, retiring the first six batters he faced and leaning on his 4-seam fastball, using that particular pitch 38% of the time while touching 95.9 mph at one point.

The lefty also had some success with his slider, going to that pitch 28% of the time and eliciting an impressive 40% whiff rate.

The slider also played some part in helping Peterson to get out of a jam in the bottom of the third inning. After giving up a leadoff double to Pavin Smith, Peterson used his slider exclusively to strike out Daulton Varsho and get one out, but the trouble didn’t end there.

Peterson then gave up a single to Jose Herrera and a grounder from Hummel allowed Smith to score the first run of the game, with the starter responsible for the run being scored after being late to cover first base. However, the 26-year-old went back to a combination of the slider and fastball, with a curveball thrown in, to get Marte out to end the inning and escape any further damage.

One run was all Peterson would allow as he put together another one-two-three inning in the fourth, again having great success with his slider to strike out Seth Beer, and Varsho lined out into a double play to end the fifth inning after Smith was walked.

Going into the sixth, all was going to plan as Herrera and Hummel both grounded out to present Peterson with another one-two-three inning opportunity, but his night came to a close after he gave up a double with Marte with Drew Smith coming into the game.

However, despite that last pitch, Peterson enjoyed another good night at the office as he continues to try and prove that his struggles in 2021 were nothing more than a sophomore slump.

He finished his second start of 2022 with one earned run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched, striking out three and walking one.

As a result, Peterson lowered his ERA to 0.64 this season, while also lowering the collective ERA of Mets starters to an MLB-best 2.07.

Having now allowed just one run over 10 innings in two starts against the Diamondbacks this season, coupled with pitching four shutout frames against the Phillies in relief, Peterson is showing signs of being the starter that wowed in his rookie year in 2020.

And Mets manager Buck Showalter was left impressed by how Peterson was able to settle into the game and reach another level.

“I tell ya, after the seventh or eighth pitch, it was like he had another level,” Showalter said. “He and (Tylor) Megill, both of their velocities have jumped a little bit.”

Showalter wasn’t the only one singing the praises of Peterson, with catcher James McCann talking about the adjustments the starter has made to his game in order to start off 2022 hot.

“He threw the ball extremely well, really well,” McCann said. “I don’t know how many pitches he threw, but I felt like he was just as strong when he came out of the game as when he started the game… I definitely think his confidence level is really good right now. He’s made some key adjustments and tweaks to his mechanics and just his approach.”

“There’s just a huge difference for me in what I see out of him this year compared to last year, and it’s really shown up too,” McCann added.