There have been a lot of reasons the Mets have remained in the playoff hunt even with Kodai Senga having made just one start on the season.
Prior to Tuesday’s 7-2 win over Boston, president of baseball operations David Stearns praised the depth of the rotation.
And lately, no one on the staff has been better than David Peterson, who continued his stellar run in the Mets’ sixth straight win, as the lefty allowed just one run over six innings and struck out a career-high 11.
“It’s a cool thing to have,’’ Peterson said of his strikeout milestone.
He also lowered his season ERA to 2.75 and has been even better in his last seven outings, with a 1.81 ERA — seventh-best in the majors in that span.
“He’s executing and he’s a true professional,” Francisco Lindor said of Peterson. “He’s not letting the moment get too big for him. He’s come a long way.”
And that’s just since last year, when he finished with a 5.03 ERA and underwent labrum surgery on his hip after the season.
Since making his season debut this year on May 29, Peterson has been mostly excellent, despite some shaky peripherals — including a drop-off in strikeouts.
“He has an arsenal that produces weak contact,” Stearns said of Peterson before the game. “He avoids patterns and is pretty unpredictable [with his pitch mix] from start to start, especially recently. That’s a good combination. And he’s finally healthy, so he’s able to get his work in between starts.”
On Tuesday, Peterson got plenty of swings and misses, with manager Carlos Mendoza noting his four-seam fastball up in the zone.
Peterson whiffed three of the four batters he faced in the first and didn’t allow a run until the fifth, when Peterson stranded two runners by striking out Jarren Duran. And he finished his outing an inning later by stranding two more runners.
During his recent stretch of dominance, Peterson has pitched at least five innings and allowed two or fewer runs in all seven starts.
And his ERA of 1.81 ERA during that span is seventh-best in the majors.
It all came on Peterson’s 29th birthday, which he said was the perfect gift.
“A win is good enough for me,’’ Peterson said.
As the Mets head into the stretch run and try to get to the postseason, they’ll continue to rely on Peterson as another member of a rotation that’s had plenty of question marks over the course of the season, but has kept delivering solid performances.
Credit: Source link
