1 Mets player proving doubters wrong

The New York Mets came into the 2022 season with the highest of hopes for their starting rotation. Jacob deGrom was set to return and Max Scherzer signing to play in Queens set the Mets up with two aces. Once the MLB lockout ended, the Mets made a surprising trade and brought Chris Bassitt in from Oakland to round out the rotation that also included Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker.

All throughout spring training, there was a buzz. MLB even ranked them as the no. 1 rotation in the major leagues.

Quickly following that ranking, the Mets lost deGrom to a stress reaction in his right scapula. He has not pitched during the regular season yet. Then recently Max Scherzer went down with a “moderate to high grade internal oblique strain.” Neither ace has pitched with the other this season.

With the aces on the shelf, the Mets have had to rely on Bassitt, Carrasco, and Walker to which I must add that they have pitched very well. The issue is that they still had two more rotation spots to fill with Tylor Megill being lost to biceps tendinitis. So far one of those spots has been filled admirably. He has pitched so well that he is proving all of his doubters wrong.

There is no doubt that Mets starter David Peterson has proven all of us wrong! 

It is like Peterson is back to pitching like he did when he was initially brought up during the 2020 season. We all remember how that season went. It was the shortened 60-game season due to COVID and the Mets had dealt with a lot of injuries, especially to the starting rotation.

Peterson was brought up from AA and was the best pitcher, outside of deGrom, pitching to a 6-2 record with a 3.44ERA.

When the 2021 season began, the thought was that he would fit right into the back end of the rotation. Unfortunately, Peterson struggled to a 2-6 record with a 5.54ERA and was quickly lost for the season due to a foot injury.

His struggles felt eerie similar to former Met Steven Matz. Like Matz, Peterson would be cruising and then something would happen that would throw his concentration off and hamper him into prolonged innings and a lot of runs.

With Peterson all healed and ready for the 2022 campaign, I thought it was very important for the Mets to get enough depth in the starting rotation that Peterson and Megill would be allowed to improve and grow in AAA. They both needed seasoning in the minor leagues since they both were thrust into the majors from AA. 

That lasted all but a few starts as the injuries to the top of the rotation started to pile up. Because of those injuries, Peterson was able to make 5 starts and all have been of the best quality. In each start, Peterson has not given up more than 3 earned runs in a game giving the Mets the opportunity to stay in each game.

I’ll admit right now that I was one of the doubters. I didn’t believe that Peterson was ready yet. Like I said earlier, I think he needed some seasoning. I never thought that he would not be good enough for the rotation but with some time in the minors, he could become a very serviceable lefty to round out the starting five.

I am so glad I was wrong and I will take being wrong if it means success for my Mets. I am happy for David Peterson and I hope he continues to succeed and proves the doubters wrong every chance he gets.