David Peterson Bounces Back As His Interesting Season Continues

David Peterson is having a solid season, although the advanced numbers continue to say he is one of the luckiest pitchers in baseball. There is two ways to look at that. If Peterson continues to put himself in difficult situations, his luck may run out. But in the same way, he does deserves some credit for working out of trouble as consistently as he has. Saturday’s start against the Los Angeles Angels was one of his better outings of the season, despite earning a no-decision in the end.

The Angels got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning. Kevin Pillar brought Zach Neto home with an RBI single, just a few minutes after robbing Francisco Lindor of an extra base hit in the field. After that, Peterson did well to keep the Angels’ lineup quiet. He put three consecutive zeroes up on board, including 1-2-3 innings in the third and the fourth. Still, the Mets trailed 1-0.

Peterson was unlucky to start off the bottom of the fifth. Matt Thaiss got tied up on an inside four-seam fastball, but it managed to get by Mark Vientos at third base. All of a sudden, the Angels had a runner in scoring position. Peterson was 2/3 of the way from getting out of the inning unscathed. That was until Neto came through with an RBI single over the head of Jeff McNeil. Peterson came back out to throw a clean inning the sixth, completing one of his stronger outings of the season.

David Peterson. Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

I think it is fair to say that his performance would have received more praise had things gone differently after the Mets took the lead in the seventh. Peterson’s final line was six innings pitched, two runs, two earned, five hits, and four strikeouts. He was more efficient to this credit, needing just 82 pitches to get through the sixth. The biggest reason why? Just one walk allowed.

Peterson is 5-1 with a 3.47 ERA in 11 starts this season. The Mets are 8-3 when the left-hander is on the mound. But, he has a 4.56 FIP and is allowing 4.1 walks per nine. Additionally, Peterson’s xERA of 5.30 ranks in the league’s seventh percentile.

It goes both ways. Peterson has pitched really well with runners in scoring position, getting out of sone pretty big spots. His ability to execute in those moments is great, but it will eventually even out if he can’t limit the walks. He has allowed three walks or more in three of his last four starts.

The 28-year-old was able to do that in Saturday’s loss to the Angels. Could that serve as a turning point for him? Absolutely. Allowing one or two walks per start will put him in a good position to have more and more quality starts. Consistency will continue to be the big talking point surrounding Peterson.

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