2017 Draft - Mets 1st Rd. (#20 overall) Pick - LHP David Peterson

6-6 - 240 - University of Oregon  -  L/L

SB Nation (http://www.minorleagueball.com/2017/5/3/15529394/2017-mlb-draft-profile-david-peterson-lhp-oregon) - 

    Peterson has become one of the best strikeout artists in the entire nation, as pointed out in this "Kings of the K" piece. He strikes out 12.76 per nine, ninth best in DI and his 107 strikeouts are tied for second.

Most impressive? Peterson has walked six batters. That’s a number that relievers who have pitched half of the innings Peterson has envy. 107-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. You can fake a lot of things as a pitcher. Command of the strike zone isn’t the easiest one to do.

Peterson’s 17.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads DI. He has done it primarily behind a nasty fastball-slider combo, but mixes in an a slightly above average change up and a rarely used curve that needs some work. The fastball velocity reports range from 89 to 94 miles per hour, and Baseball America had his slider in the low-80s.

Scout.com - 

       Command will be the key to Peterson's success at the next level, but in college, he's been beating hitters with his low to mid 90's fastball with plus sink and arm-side run, helping him work away from right-handed hitters. The southpaw likes to work inside on lefties with his fastball, allowing the run and sink to break back into the zone, jamming hitters or making them stare at strikes on the inner half. Working from a low 3/4 arm slot, Peterson has shown good movement on all his pitches, with his fastball being the best of his trio. His best off-speed offering is his above-average low 80's changeup that he works against both righties and lefties. He works in a big-breaking curveball with a dipping break that he's shown a feel for, but still needs to be refined.

Baseball America - 

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/mlb-2017-draft-tracker-a/#lzZJmXRItL8hh1cE.97

      Peterson was a Top 100 prospect out of a Denver high school thanks to a projectable 6-foot-6 frame, ability to sink his fastball that reached 91 mph and flashes of above-average changeup and slider. A broken right fibula delayed the start of his prep senior season, and the 28th-round pick (Red Sox) didn’t sign, instead heading to Oregon. He proved durable in his first two seasons and pitched for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team last summer, but Peterson didn’t take off until 2017, when he hit it off with new pitching coach Jason Dietrich. Peterson was leading the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio in early May and had six double-digit strikeout games, including 17 against Mississippi State and 20 in late April against Arizona State. Peterson has improved his fastball velocity (up to 94 mph early in games) and command this season. He pitches at around 91 mph. His quieter delivery features better direction to the plate this year and a bit more deception, eliciting swings-and-misses from his fastball. His slider earns plus grades from some scouts, and at times he’ll back-foot righthanded hitters with it all night until they adjust. Then he can locate an average curveball to mix things up, and scouts like his above-average changeup, though he doesn’t use it much. One Pac-12 coach called it his best pitch, with plus tumble and fade, and it allows Peterson to go arm-side with his fastball and change, then glove-side with the slider, slicing up the plate and flummoxing hitters. Peterson stays out of the middle of the plate, pitches with angle and gets groundballs when he isn’t striking out loads of hitters. He has solid athleticism that allows him to repeat his improved delivery, even as he’s filled out physically from 213 pounds as a prep senior to a listed 235 at Oregon. Peterson had pitched his way into the first round.