David Peterson mocks those who were clamoring for him to be removed from the rotation, as he throws six shutout innings against a Cubs team that came in with a five-game winning streak, leading the Mets to a 5-2 win Monday night at Citi Field.
In his previous two starts, Peterson allowed 11 H and 9 ER in 3 IP. But he retired the side in order in the first inning en route to allowing just one hit while recording 18 outs. By the time he left, the Mets held a 5-0 lead.
The Mets put together four runs on three hits, a walk and an error in the fourth inning, with Kevin Pillar delivering a two-run double and James McCann an RBI single. Dominic Smith hit a solo shot to center in the fifth inning and Brandon Drury, pinch-hitting for Peterson, came thru with an RBI single in the sixth.
With Peterson turning in a strong outing, we can turn our attention to Trevor May as the pitcher about which to be concerned the most. In his last 10 games before tonight, May had a 7.27 ERA with 3 HR in 8.2 IP. And those numbers just got worse, as he surrendered back-to-back homers before getting yanked.
Aaron Loup looked good in his four-out appearance and Edwin Diaz came on in the ninth inning and looked electric, striking out the side to earn his 13th save of the season.
After beginning the year with a lousy results against teams with a winning record, the Mets have now won five of their last six games against teams over .500, picking up four wins against the Padres and now a win over the Cubs. This win snapped a 7-game losing streak to Chicago, giving the Mets their first victory over the Cubs since 6/22/19.
After being written off as a weak link, the back end of the rotation just spun 11 innings of 1 run, 5 hit ball. And with only 145 pitches. I was definitely among the worried, no doubt. I would guess there’s a lot of credit to go around, starting with the pitchers of course, but Hef, McCann, and Nido should get some love too.
I wonder how much influence Hefner has in the in-game management of the staff. Does Rojas consult with him before yanking a starter who is on cruise control? Or when a reliever is going down fast? I wonder if he’s in favor of Barnes being on the staff.
Something ain’t right with May. He looked very sharp early and now he’s a gopher ball machine. I had to miss his inning today but had a sense he’d give up an HR to Rizzo. I can’t believe that Wisdom then went yard on him too. May and Barnes should be in mop-up roles (yep, like today) and Reid-Foley should be on the next plane to LGA.
You’ll be happy to know that the SRF for Barnes move has already been made, as the Mets sent Barnes packing.
The Mets designated Barnes for assignment and brought up Reid-Foley.
You know that Rojas said in his post-game presser yesterday that the plan was Familia, May, and then Barnes to close it out if they had the lead? SMH…
Gut Reaction: Peterson stepped up and pitched a gem similar to and better than Lucchesi did yesterday. The two of them came through. The average starter has a 4.50 ERA not the sub 2.50 ERA that we see with our Big Three.
Loup has been very good and Diaz has been a dominant closer. The nine man bullpen has eight guys with a 100+ ERA+. All are reliable. All should pitched at least once every four days. That could be a challenge for Rojas but he has the personal to pull it off.
These are the problems he faces when he has a first place team ahead by 4.0 games the standings!
Kudos to Peterson for bouncing back and putting together an excellent performance. He backed up Lucchesi’s performance on Sunday, so the back end of the rotation held up its end through this turn. By no means does that resolve the uncertainty with the 4/5 spots, and especially with Peterson, who shows flashes but inconsistencies like many other at his career point that grow into dependable starters. Nonetheless, nice team win to start the series, and nice to see Dom break his hitless streak.
The Peterson train may bit a bit bumpy, but I think it is worth taking the ride and hope that he gains the experience he needs to be a reliable starter. He’s not exactly a rock out there psychologically, but hopefully he can settle down over the long haul.
While getting super hot would be nice, we really need Dom to just get back to normal. Pillar is putting a very solid season together.
Trevor May looks like crap. His interview in the third inning on SNY was all jocularity, but it could not completely mask how insecure this guy feels as a pitcher right now. He labors on every pitch and seems to fool no one. Even Ron D. had to admit that “May’s breaking ball is bad right now” and his fastball is as straight as an arrow. I’m not sure he is any better than Barnes or Drew Smith. The Mets are not that far from having trouble in their bullpen, and not that far from being dominant out there… Castro, Loup, Lugo, and Diaz can be formidable.
Well; yesterday I was wondering why Barnes was on the team, and now he’s gone. Can I wish again and wonder why May is in the bullpen rotation? Won’t somebody be demoted to bring up a starting pitcher for the doubleheaders coming up? I hope Rojas doesn’t try to get by by burning through his bullpen….unless SRF and/or Gsellman is allowed to go three innings each.
Happy for Peterson having the good game. If he can go six innings and allow three runs or less from here on out, it’ll be a good year for him and the Mets.