3 NY Mets player role changes, suggestions for September to keep them best-prepared

The Mets should consider giving David Peterson a little rest because they’re going to need him

If not for his complete game shutout and 1-run over 8 inning gem against the Washington Nationals, David Peterson’s season would look a lot different. He’d be 6-5 with a 4.00 ERA. Although his current 8-5 record and 3.61 ERA is hardly the talk of the town any longer, excluding this pair of outings against a bad team makes him look far less dangerous than he did early on.

Peterson could benefit from a little extra rest. His 152 innings has blown past his career-high with a whole September to go and hopefully some big playoff outings. Last year the Mets used him in relief outside of one NLCS start during the postseason. This year, he has made a case to be their number one. However, with recent questions and signs of burnout, Peterson is going to need to do better than allow 8 runs in 2 innings versus a once-again fileted Miami Marlins team to give us any confidence in him against a truly good lineup.

No one has been more relied upon this season than Peterson. It's crucial to have Peterson healthy and at the top of his game for as many starts as possible in September and (hopefully) beyond. If they can squeeze out enough victories, passing him over even just once can help him rest up. Brandon Sproat is raising his hand somewhere as a volunteer.