After spending their first five top draft picks on hitting in the Sandy Alderson era, the New York Mets have shifted their focus back to hurlers over the past few years. The Mets used two first round picks on pitchers in 2016, adding Justin Dunn and Anthony Kay to the farm system, and continued the trend this season when they selected University of Oregon product David Peterson. Peterson, a left handed starting pitcher, had a heavy workload for the Ducks this year so the Mets chose to simply wet his feet in pro ball this season. That process began with the Brooklyn Cyclones, making Peterson the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
Peterson had an outstanding year for Oregon, going 11-4 with a 2.51 ERA and piling up 140 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched. That workload has caused the Mets to limit Peterson to only two token starts with the Cyclones, where he has allowed one run in 2.2 innings of work. Peterson hasn’t factored in a decision and carried a 3.38 ERA while picking up four strikeouts in the process. Next season should be an interesting year for Peterson, and the Mets will likely start him with Low-A Columbia to get him used to full season ball. Peterson has a solid starter’s repertoire featuring a fastball that sits between 89-94 miles per hour along with a strong slider, an average changeup and a curveball that could use some work. The Mets have all the time in the world to let Peterson develop into a quality big league starter, and his progression will be important next year with Dunn seemingly taking a step back and Kay yet to debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
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