David Peterson has reserved his seat in the Mets starting rotation for next year

The New York Mets will have three starting pitchers head into free agency after this year. That’s assuming Sean Manaea does the obvious and does opt out of his deal. The veteran lefty has earned a multi-year contract after what he has delivered this season.

A high turnover rate in the rotation can make things difficult especially when the free agent class of pitchers isn’t incredibly heavy. High bidders will include many of the usual suspects. The Mets will, at the very least, be in the market for another one of the pillow contract players like they added this offseason with Manaea and Luis Severino.

One spot that already looks taken is the one belonging to David Peterson. Yet another masterful outing on Saturday night against the San Diego Padres, the lifelong Mets pitcher has kept up with his career theme of being an “every other year” pitcher. The difference with 2024 and the last two even numbered years is he is doing it exclusively out of the rotation and with the best results he has ever gotten.

David Peterson has already secured a spot in next year’s Mets rotation

Exactly what has Peterson improved so much? The 2.85 ERA versus the 5.03 he had last year isn’t comparable. He got hit hard early on and was demoted to the minor leagues. Offseason surgery held him back from starting the season on the roster, but since he did come back Peterson has erased much of the criticism we had for him.

Finding the strike zone is still, at times, an issue for Peterson. Averaging just under 4 walks per 9, he’s right there with the rest of his career averages. The big surprise is to see him sink from two straight years of striking out over 10 batters per 9 only to now carry a below average 7 Ks per 9 with him after his 8th win of the season.

Sinking, in a different way, has been a major difference for him this season. Peterson has turned to his sinker more than any other pitch in 2024. Batters hit .314 against it last season. This year it’s at .248. This hasn’t been his out pitch, but the trust in letting batters make contact seems to suit him well. He isn’t allowing home runs, now at career-low 1.9%.

For much of this season, going deep into games was the knock on Peterson. His response: 7 innings against the Baltimore Orioles and 7.1 versus the Padres. You can't ask for many more.

Peterson is no longer the young player on the Mets trying to find his place. In his fifth season with the ball club, he is one of the more seasoned members of the roster. Never able to quite guarantee himself a place on it, his strong performance in 2024 should have him earning a seat in next year’s starting rotation.