David Peterson is the New York Mets’ most consistent starting pitcher, which is the closest they have to an ace. In most starts, he has given his team six plus innings and a decent chance to win. He has been the only rotational arm that can say that over the last few months. Peterson, though, experienced a disaster in an appearance against the Atlanta Braves, blowing a 6-0 lead with terrible control. He bounced back Tuesday night with his best start of the season, dominating the Washington Nationals in an 8-1 victory.
Peterson has been the one starter whom New York can count on. Injuries and inconsistency have plagued the rotation. Kodai Senga missed five weeks with a strained hamstring. Tylor Megill has been out for two months and counting with a strained right elbow. Sean Manaea recently came off the Injured List and looks nothing like the magnificent pitcher down the stretch last year. Clay Holmes is struggling with fatigue in his adjustment from a career reliever to a starting arm. Griffin Canning’s season ended with a torn Achilles tendon.
Peterson is the only rotational arm who hasn’t been lost to injury or exhaustion. He has followed up on his breakthrough 2024 season with an even better 2025. Quality starts have been far and few between for the Mets’ starting corps this season, especially since mid-June. Peterson has been their best bet to throw one.
New York fell into a precipitous drop after hitting their season high mark at 45-24 on June 13th. A horrific 19-34 stretch followed in which everything that could go wrong did.
The starting pitching was a key catalyst for the losing stretch. During July, the rotation made it into the sixth inning only nine times. For weeks, the starting corps had three, sometimes two, healthy arms, necessitating extensive bullpen games.
Peterson often found himself the lone man holding down the fort. While defeats piled up, he pitched effectively. Throughout July, he spun a quality start each time out and maintained a 1.05 earned run average.
The excellent work continued into August as Peterson allowed only two runs against the San Francisco Giants. Holding up as a dam against a raging water of ineptitude finally got to him in a shocking implosion.
For weeks, it looked like the Mets had hit the pits, only to find something worse lurking around the corner. On August 13th, the lowest point finally came, and surprisingly, Peterson was the prime culprit.
The night before, New York celebrated a 13-5 thrashing of the Braves, where fans saw their team hit six home runs. Pete Alonso’s power jacks brought extra revelry as he passed franchise icon Darryl Strawberry for the Mets’ career home run record. Few would have thought that excruciating disaster beckoned the following evening.
All looked wonderful as the bats continued mashing and New York raced out to a 6-0 lead through the first two innings. The Mets had their best pitcher on the mound in Peterson; they had a six-run lead against an Atlanta team that waved the white flag weeks ago. The Braves didn’t have their best player in Ronald Acuna Jr., and their pitching was in absolute shambles.
All seemed in the works for another magnificent New York night. Instead, Peterson couldn’t find the strike zone in the fourth. He walked four batters and allowed two hits sandwiched around one out. By the time Manager Carlos Mendoza took Peterson out, Atlanta had cut the Mets’ lead to two.
Reed Garrett came in and promptly poured gasoline on the fire, allowing a hit, a walk, and then a grand slam by Michael Harris II. This flipped a 6-0 lead into a 9-6 deficit within the span of half an inning. The Mets’ bats went into hibernation the rest of the evening, the Braves added two more runs for good measure, and New York suffered an 11-6 humiliation.
The Mets lost the series to Atlanta the next night and the opener to the Seattle Mariners the following night, putting them in a 2-14 hole. Their division lead was gone as they now saw the Philadelphia Phillies well ahead of them. Their once secure playoff spot had vanished as the Cincinnati Reds were like the equivalent of a racing car creeping closer and closer in the rear-view mirror.
General Manager David Stearns finally made the decision that should have been made weeks ago by calling up Nolan McLean. A picturesque debut followed as the Mariners couldn’t touch McLean. Finally, the Mets had a win. Good pitching, like bad, is contagious.
Holmes followed up in the Little League Classic by throwing his best start in ages, leading New York to its first series win in weeks. Could Peterson show fortitude as the next pitcher up, or would his meltdown against the Braves be only the beginning?
Peterson responded with a fantastic start, one topped only by his shutout on June 11th against the Nationals. Tuesday night, he faced them again and dominated. He controlled Washington throughout, inspired by excellent hitting support.
Peterson threw eight innings, allowed four hits, a run, and struck out ten, a season high. The Nationals got a runner in scoring position only twice. The Mets blasted four homers, highlighted by a cannon shot by Mark Vientos, his second straight night with a HR. New York needed an easy game, and Peterson led them to it.
The Mets seemingly prefer doing things the hard way, and they have put themselves in that position yet again. What once looked like a 100-win season has become a battle to the finish to secure a playoff spot.
New York must get significantly better pitching, especially from its starting core, to have a shot at getting back to the playoffs. Injecting one of its top prospects in McLean has had immediate dividends. Stearns must not go back to his cautious ways and be willing to promote more.
Brandon Sproat, after a rocky Triple-A introduction, has held his own, throwing a six-inning gem Tuesday night, allowing a run with eight strikeouts. Jonah Tong, after a befuddling delay to promote him to Syracuse, shone brightly in his debut. He pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out nine. Stearns shouldn’t delay if Tong shows similar results in his next start or two; call him up to the Big Apple. Find room for Sproat also.
Even if the Mets utilize all of their top pitching prospects, Peterson figures to be the key to the stretch run. New York needs its steadiest starter to be a beacon of reliability. It has difficult matchups coming up on the road against the Phillies, the Detroit Tigers, the Chicago Cubs, and the Reds. Peterson figures to be heavily involved in most, if not all, of them.
The Mets have been known, unfortunately, for many recent collapses: 2007, 2008, and 2022. 2025 has threatened to top them all, but New York now has a chance to write a recovery and redemption story. Peterson must be the tale’s greatest character, who shows the way for all to follow.
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