NY Mets: 6 people to have doubts about going into 2022

The New York Mets have plenty of people who give me doubts. Throughout the 2021 season, we saw players underperform, have issues with the media, suffer repetitive injuries, and so much more. The organization as a whole could be on this list.

Athletes can give fans doubts for a lot of reasons. Some have trouble staying on the field. Others have off-the-field issues. Some have drop offs in their performance. Others have poor attitudes.

Let’s take a look at six Mets giving me doubts for 2022.

David Peterson’s spot in the Mets rotation is in jeopardy.

The southpaw tossed 66.2 innings in 2021 before he suffered a foot injury that ended his season. He allowed 64 hits, 41 runs, walked 29 batters, and struck out 69. His ERA was 5.54, but some bad luck was involved, since his FIP was 4.78.

Peterson’s big problem is his control, or more accurately, lack thereof. He averaged almost four walks per nine innings and his WHIP was 1.395. He walks 10% of batters he faces, which is in the 25th percentile on Baseball Savant. Factor in that he allows basically a hit per innings, and that’s just way too many baserunners.

There are some games where he just completely loses the zone. On April 21st at the Cubs, he went 3.1 innings, gave up four hits, two walks and six runs (only three earned). It took him 62 pitches, but only 36 of those were strikes. He had a worse outing on May 7th at home vs. Arizona. He went 1.2 innings, giving up three hits, three walks, and three runs, all earned. Of his 55 pitches, only 31 were strikes. His worst outing was on June 2nd at Arizona. It took him 35 pitches to get just one out. He gave up three hits, three walks, and five earned runs. He threw just 16 strikes.

What makes this so frustrating is that every once in a while, he’ll have a great start that shows you how good he can be. On April 14th vs. Philly, he went six innings, giving up only three hits, no walks, just one run, and he struck out 10. On May 14th vs. Tampa, he went 7.1 innings, gave up four hits, two walks, two runs, and struck out nine. What did he do differently in these games? He had command of all his pitches.

Will he be in the 2022 rotation? That remains to be seen. Assuming deGrom is healthy, he’s number one, no questions asked. Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker will take up two other spots. If Noah Syndergaard accepts a qualifying offer or signs an extension, he’ll be in there, albeit on an innings limit. If the Mets decide to re-sign Marcus Stroman or go after another free agent, that would be the fifth spot, leaving Peterson and Tylor Megill as AAA depth, or as long relievers.