Peterson Focused on Fighting Fatigue

It’s only spring training, but David Peterson is already thinking about finishing the season strong.

“I think that was one of the biggest things for me, looking in the mirror at the end of the (2025) season, is I wasn’t myself at the end of the year and I wasn’t happy with the way that I pitched,” he told reporters Tuesday after dealing four innings of one-run ball in a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals at Clover Park.

After going 6-4 with a 3.06 ERA in the first half of 2025 and making the All-Star team, Peterson, like the Mets, faded in the second half. In a dozen starts after the break, he was 3-2 with a 6.34 ERA.

“So I think a lot of the reflection in the offseason was on, OK, how did I feel during those times where I started to get fatigued? What adjustments can I make and how can I prepare myself better now that I’ve done that and have had that workload and know what it feels like? I think that was one of the biggest emphasis for me was not letting that happen again and learning from that experience.”

“He just got tired,” Carlos Mendoza said. “He looked like he hit a wall. He was pretty dominant in that first half, make the All-Star team, but then it was a battle for him. That’s kind of like the biggest thing that we saw that second half.

“This is a guy that was going deep in games earlier and then once we got past August he had a hard time. So, I think it’s a learning experience, part of being a big-league pitcher. Healthy, for a whole year, that they gotta learn and manage themself. So, he’s in a really good spot now and another year under his belt where he’s experienced that. He knows the feeling of it. And he’s prepared for it.”

Peterson, 30, has upped his innings pitched total every season in his six-year career. He threw 168 2/3 innings in 2025, surpassing his previous high by 47 2/3 innings. But he said battling late-season fatigue will be less about innings and more about between-start routines. He may alter how much he throws on the side and manage workouts differently than last year in terms of lifting vs. conditioning. He is confident he can work with the team coaches to find the right balance.

“It’s definitely a challenge, you know, there’s a lot that goes on and you know you continue to put innings on the arm and on your body,” Peterson said. “I think it’s just about trying to find ways to combat that and just being able to stick to your routines, adjust them as you need to, but at the end of the day that’s what we’re in the rotation for.”

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