1) David Peterson
It's no secret that the 2023 season went just about as poorly as it could've gone for David Peterson who began the year in the Mets Opening Day rotation following Jose Quintana's injury but struggled really from the onset.
Peterson's 8.08 ERA through his first eight starts earned himself a ticket to Syracuse. Mets fans hoped that ticket was going to be one-way, but more injuries to the starting rotation practically forced New York to bring him back.
In his 19 appearances (13 starts) dating back to late June through the end of the season, Peterson posted a 3.38 ERA in 72 innings pitched. Peterson didn't go particularly deep in most of his outings, but he earned a chance to start games following the Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander trades and made the most of it. The way he finished the season gave Mets fans reminders of what they had seen from this southpaw in the 2022 season, when he wound up being incredibly valuable.
Unfortunately, Peterson did undergo hip surgery this offseason which will likely knock him out of action until May or June. That injury gives chances to other people on this list to get some action in a depth capacity but when Peterson returns, he should step in as the Mets defacto sixth starter. He's shown enough throughout his career and pitched well enough down the stretch to earn it.