9/22/17

Tom Brennan - MY PROSPECT # 3: DAVID PETERSON



I have LHSP David Peterson as my # 3 overall Mets prospect despite his having thrown less than 4 innings last season after being drafted in the first round by the Metsies. 

And the Mets never make first round draft mistakes, as we can all agree.

I like him because he doesn't walk folks, struck out 20 in a single college game, and managed to throw almost 4 innings without getting hurt.  Hey...imagine a Mets pitcher going 4 whole innings without a career-threatening injury - pretty mind-boggling, right?

The Syndergaard-sized (if perhaps less muscled) Peterson had pitched enough in college to make his 2017 short cameo with Brooklyn a sensible approach.

Clearly, 3.2 IP is not enough a sample to draw any real conclusions on, but I read that his strikeout-to-walk ratio led all of Division-I baseball, and he followed his college pedigree by walking just 1 and fanning 6 for the Cyclonics (who often played as a team in 2017 as if they all just had colonics).

Normally, I would not put a lad with so little pro experience so high up the list, but several other would-be competitors for slot # 3 are either just coming back from, or still nursing, serious injuries. 

He throws hard with movement, and has an effective repertoire already, too. I read that Peterson sports a 94-MPH fastball and slider in the mid-80s, and a nice change and curve. Guys like him, with a well-developed repertoire and command, could move up fast.

Like 2016 first rounder righty Justin Dunn, who went straight from Brooklyn to St Lucie for his second year, let's hope Peterson also jumped straight to St Lucie in 2018, and fares far better there than the struggling Dunn did this season.

P.S.  off topic, I read that Sandy Alderson most likely will be back next year, and that Terry Collins is likely to retire.  Time will tell.

4 comments:

Mack Ade said...

Good morning Tom.

I believe that Peterson will begin the return on high quality starters to the Mets rotation.

I don't expect much of a delay here. He's mature and ready to go.

I expect him to start 2018 for St. Lucie, hit Binghamton around the All-Star break, and literally be ready for an early September call up (there is no reason to damage his confidence by sending him to Vegas).

I also thing his fellow draft pick, Anthony Kay, will trail him and lag around a year behind.

Health is the key here.

Eddie from Corona said...

Mack
you said you think Kay would lag behind as in begin on a level below St Lucie?

I am not one who fixated in Needing a Left handed in the rotation, 5 Degroms would suit me just fine...
Besides there is only a handful of quality Lefties starters... But there is still a vast majority of Righty hitters...

Is it too soon to think Dunn is a bust? he was a reliever mostly in college wasn't he?

Mack Ade said...

Eddie -

I would start Kay in St. Lucie with Peterson, Szapucki, Peterson, and McIlraith... in the wings would be Scarlyn Reyes, Campos, and Blake Taylor. As for trailing, I wouldn't push Kay because he's still coming off TJS.

Dunn was a reliever and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't see him to return to that role. I'd like to give him one more shot first. The potential Binghamton rotation of Dunn, Humphries, H. Gonzalez,and Crismatt could be exciting.

Tom Brennan said...

It would be great to have him move up that fast. And I have a great idea...promote David and Tim Peterson to the majors at the same time, and have David start and Tim close out a shutout win.

Eddie, Dunn had a bad, then good, then bad season. Sum total? Lousy. Familia had two bad starting seasons. I am not writing off Dunn, although his pitching so far is certainly disappointing.