David Peterson Battles Through Five Innings in Loss to Marlins

David Peterson took the hill for the Mets’ second game of the season and dodged traffic all night long. The left-hander only pitched one clean inning and allowed multiple base runners to reach in four innings, but he was able to keep the Marlins at bay for the most part.

Peterson had Marlins lead-off man Luis Arraez in an 0-2 hole to start his night, but after narrowly missing on a slider, Peterson ended up issuing a walk. He then induced a double-play from Jean Segura, which was aided by a slick diving stop by Pete Alonso. After Starling Marte misplayed Garrett Cooper‘s shallow fly ball into a triple, Peterson fielded a hard comebacker off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr. for the third out.

Peterson surrendered a lead-off homer to Jorge Soler on his first pitch of the second inning, and back-to-back singles by Yuli Gurriel and Nick Fortes put the Marlins in business with one out. Peterson was able to escape though, striking out Jon Berti on a slider and getting Arraez to ground out to Alonso.

There was a lot to prove for Peterson as a starter heading into this game, and indeed into the 2023 season, and his first outing of the year was a real grind from start to finish with both highs and lows. However, rather than worry about what has come before, Peterson stressed that he’s just focused on helping the Mets to win right now.

“I mean, I’m not thinking about previous years and I’m not thinking about anything,” Peterson said after the game. “I was told I was going to start this game and that’s been my whole focus and it’s going to be my focus. Every day is getting ready for the next one. I want to contribute and help this team win. That’s my main goal and focus.”

The Mets’ defense helped Peterson out again in the third inning. With Cooper on first and two out, Soler hit a scorching line drive, but Francisco Lindor made a leaping grab to save a run. Soler’s liner was hit 106.5 miles per hour and had an expected batting average of .900, which was the highest for either side in the game. Peterson was also bailed out thanks to great plays from Jeff McNeil and Alonso.

“Yeah, I mean the defense was outstanding,” Peterson said. “It’s nice to pitch when balls are hit, guys are there and they’re going to make plays and they did a hell of a job. I felt it just came down to being able to use all my pitches, at certain points I was able to throw everything out when I needed to and get out of some of those things. It was just mixing it up and using all of my weapons.”

After a 1-2-3 fourth inning, Peterson immediately found trouble in the bottom of the fifth, allowing singles to Berti and Arraez. After striking out Segura, Cooper hit a ground ball that deflected off Alonso’s glove, but McNeil scrambled after the ball and threw Berti out trying to score from second. Peterson retired Chisholm on a grounder to Alonso, ending his evening. Despite allowing eight hits, Peterson kept the Marlins to just one run in his five innings, striking out five and walking only one.

Peterson’s fastball topped out at 96.1 MPH and averaged just over 93 MPH on the night, which is almost directly in line with his season average from a year ago. However, he registered just two swings and misses on his fastballs. On the other hand, Peterson threw 28 sliders and registered six whiffs on 14 swings. His slider also averaged 96 more RPM than it did last year.

“I liked that he only had one walk, that’s probably why he was able to survive,” Buck Showalter said after the game. “If he stays in the strike zone, he’s got good enough stuff to compete up here every time out.”

While it may not have been the prettiest start, Peterson did a good job staying composed and made big pitches when he needed to in clutch moments. With the Mets down a couple of starters, he has a big role to play in the team’s rotation. His next start is slated for Wednesday afternoon against the Brewers.