New York Mets starter David Peterson will return from the injured list on Wednesday and take the bump against the Los Angeles Dodgers. To make room on the active roster, New York optioned left-handed reliever Josh Walker to Triple-A.
LHP David Peterson has been reinstated from the 60-Day IL.
LHP Josh Walker was optioned to Triple-A following last night’s game.
RHP Dedniel Núñez has been returned to Triple-A after serving as the 27th man in yesterday's doubleheader.
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 29, 2024
Peterson struggled to a 5.03 ERA (82 ERA+) in 111 major league innings last season. The Mets counted on him to step up and provide quality depth innings to keep the team in the race. Instead, the once-promising starter looked unusable at time and helped sink New York’s season.
That said, it seems Peterson’s issues stem from injury rather than lack of ability. The 28-year-old underwent surgery in November to repair a labrum in his left hip. His rehab process seemingly went incredibly well, and Peterson now gets the chance as a healthy pitcher to establish himself in the majors.
New York Mets Activate David Peterson From Injured List
Peterson told reporters that he’s been pitching through pain for years and that he spent a lot of time last year trying to learn how to pitch around/with the pain. This took away from his pitching abilities, and his stats showed it.
But now fully healthy and pain free for the first time in years, Peterson has high expectations for himself.
“Having good range of motion in the hip and being able to move the right way [is huge],” he told reporters. “Some other things [in my delivery] kind of subsequently got cleaned up and feel better than they did before. I’m not working as hard to try to protect everything since the hip is doing what it’s supposed to now.”
The early results look great for the lefty. The Mets activate Peterson after six strong minor league rehab starts. In 23 2/3 innings, Peterson posted a 1.14 ERA with 35 strikeouts and three walks. He reached 89 pitches in his last start and manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters that he does not have any limitations in his start.
"Excited to have him back. Know how hard he worked throughout the whole process."
Carlos Mendoza talks about having David Peterson back today: pic.twitter.com/MFgU5hcis7
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 29, 2024
With Peterson and Tylor Megill healthy, New York will utilize a six-man rotation. It’s unclear how long the rotations will be structured like this, but at least through the trade deadline seems like a real possibility. Plus, if Kodai Senga returns, the Mets might opt for the six-man rotation through September to help keep him healthy.
