The Mets top pick from the 2017 draft was a big bodied lefty with a low 90s fastball named David Peterson. Met fans saw very little of him in his first season of minor league ball with the Mets only having Peterson throw 3.2 innings for the Brooklyn Cyclones. Now into the 2018 season he’s started 6 games and the Mets have to like what they see.
Length: In his six starts for the Mets this season Peterson has amassed 37.2 innings of work. That means that he’s well above 6.0 IP per game started. This is, in some ways, as important as how often he strikes batters out and how few walks he’s issued.
Control: In his 37.2 innings, Peterson has managed to limit the walks issued to 11. This amounts to a 2.6 BB/9 rate. These aren’t astronomical numbers but are still good to see. Add to this that with only 27 hits issued his WHIP is a crisp 1.01 and you have a pitcher who is doing what he needs to on the mound.
Power: Peterson is not going to be a top strikeout pitcher unless he can add a few MPH on the radar gun but the power numbers aren’t bad either. He has 32 strikeouts or a 7.65 K/9 rate. If we discount his first two outings, though, he has 25 strikeouts in 26 innings of work which fits much better with his “Ace” profile.
If we discount the month of April, in general, from Peterson’s numbers we see a pitching line to swoon over:
● ERA – 0.69
● Opp Avg – .165
● WHIP – 0.85
Diving deeper, if we look at his success vs. lefties there is a lot to salivate over.
● IP – 12.0
● ERA – 0.00
● Opp Avg – .091
● WHIP – 0.25
● K – 11
The Mets will likely be promoting Peterson to Advanced A before the season is out but the question remains when they feel he will be ready.
AAA:
Dominic Smith isn’t hitting enough – When you are hitting to an OPS of .800 we’d usually be thrilled but the Met first base prospect needs to do more in the inflated confines of Las Vegas.
Chris Flexen back to the majors – The most successful AAA pitcher for the Mets this season will get his second chance in the majors this week.
Tim Peterson waiting his turn – With the Mets bringing up starters to keep Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo in the bullpen it’s frustrating to see a reliever like Peterson kicking around.
AA:
AA pitchers are afraid of Peter Alonso – With 11 walks in his last 10 games it’s clear that pitchers would prefer to test the other bats in the Binghamton lineup.
Jeff McNeil brings his bat – The future bench player is swinging quite the hot piece of lumber. He has 6 home runs and is batting over .400 in his last 10 games.
Jhoan Urena stays sharp – He’s gotten himself going and seems to have found his groove in AA.
Tim Tebow, are we surprised? – After a short streak of power that got folks excited the 30 year old “prospect” has 17 strikeouts in his last 10 games.
Patrick Mazeika’s BABIP is starting to right itself – His batting average is going to rise which will make his overall numbers much healthier.
A+:
Rain reigns supreme – The Port St. Lucie Mets only managed to play three games in the entire week thanks to prodigious amounts of rain.
Justin Dunn has a strong short outing – Only 4.0 IP in a rain shortened game but he’s looking like he should finish the year in AA.
A:
Joe Cavallaro looking good – 7.0 innings of 1 run ball with 9 strikeouts in his start this week.
Anthony Kay bounces back – After two rough outings, Kay limits the damage and turns out 5.0 quality innings.
David Peterson really should have started out in high A, he’s a very advanced prospected and could have reached AA if he started in St Lucie… I don’t get it. Tim Peterson killed it in Bingo last year and is killing it in Vegas and with Lobaton dfa’d and Lagares likely going on the 60 dl the Mets have two 40 man roster spots, give him a chance.
I had projected Peterson to land in Port St. Lucie but the Mets opted to be more cautious with their approach after the 2017 failure of Justin Dunn. We will see if he keeps up this success in Advanced A before we start bashing the Mets front office.
Tim Peterson has looked good in an awfully tough place to pitch.