New York Mets: Why David Peterson Should Start

The New York Mets have a hole in their rotation with Marcus Stroman on the injured list, and David Peterson should be the guy to fill it.

Marcus Stroman is heading to the injured list before the season even begins with a torn muscle in his left calf and the New York Mets must find his replacement in an already depleted rotation. There are a couple of options to choose from but it feels like they should go to Mets prospect, David Peterson.

Stroman will be out for a good amount of time it seems and with the Mets first off day not coming until August 6th, they can’t just skip his spot in the rotation, somebody must start in his place. The Mets have a number of different options between free agency, Corey Oswalt, and going with an “opener” but none of them are that great. Peterson could provide the Mets with some quality starts.

For those asking about Erasmo Ramirez, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, he was named to the three-man taxi squad and is ineligible for the spot.

Peterson didn’t exactly pitch all that well in Double-A last year posting a 4.89 ERA in 24 starts. However, he had a much better spring training, even if it was a small sample size, posting a 1.50 ERA in six innings pitched.

He is currently the Mets 10th best prospect according to MLB.com and their fifth-best pitcher. The Mets felt confident enough to put him in the player pool and he has looked pretty good so far in summer camp.

The obvious answer to the Stroman question is probably Corey Oswalt because he has pitched in the Majors before and pitched solidly in Triple-A last year as well. The main reason I think Peterson should start over him is that Oswalt has been really bad in the Majors.

In 2018 Oswalt appeared in 17 games while starting 12 of them and he held an ERA of 5.85 as well. 2019 was even worse as he appeared in two games and had an ERA of 12.15. He is not an effective Major League pitcher, so why not throw Peterson out there and let a top prospect get a crack at it?

Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen could look to free agency to fill the hole in the rotation but I don’t think the Mets want to reunite with someone like Ervin Santanna any time soon.

In addition to this, Peterson has been at camp with the Mets this whole time practicing and the Mets don’t know how those other guys look at the moment. Signing a guy and just throwing him out there is definitely not the answer.

The last option of course is going with an opener. If you’re the Yankees or the Dodgers this could work seeing as both of those teams have elite bullpens. However, the Mets have way too many question marks to be going through three or four pitchers in a game.

We have no idea how Edwin Diaz, Dellin Betances or Jeurys Familia are gonna look this season so why throw them all on the mound in one game. If the Mets go with Peterson he could at least eat some innings for them and get some big league experience.

With Opening Day on Friday, the Mets have some big decisions to make in terms of their rotation. Peterson is definitely the most fun option as he is a Top-10 prospect and Mets fans definitely don’t wanna see Oswalt out there again. Mets fan should absolutely be pulling for him.