Many people are already gnashing their teeth over the early success of left Steven Matz who was dispatched to the Blue Jays in a trade that netted the Mets a trio of prospect pitchers in Sean Reid-Foley, Yennsy Diaz and Josh Winckowski.
While none of the younger pitchers have done anything at the MLB level for the Mets yet, Matz is off to a fine start with a 2-0 record, a 1.46 ERA and a WHIP well under 1.000. His strikeouts are up and his walks are on average with his career. Many fans are blasting the front office for this transaction already.
The Matz deal was one done for concern about his health, his recent lackluster delivery and the fact he was pushing the $6 million salary mark before entering his free agency after this season ends. The rationale made sense at the time and no one expected him to start off like an ace.
Of course, with Matz now gone the focus is on a different lefthander in David Peterson who jumped from AA to the majors during 2020 and stayed there to command a spot in the five man starting rotation for 2021.
His first start threw gasoline on the fire of the trade decision as he was flat-out awful, lasting just four innings, giving up six earned runs, striking out five and walking two. The seven hits allowed really stood out in so few innings. After his first game he sported a 13.50 ERA. It was understandable for the boo birds to be raising an early squawk.
Then a week later he started again, this time against the very same Philadelphia Phillies who manhandled him the first time around. You couldn’t have scripted a better comeback performance for Peterson.
He went six innings this time, only allowed 3 hits and a single run, striking out a career high 10 and didn’t walk a single batter. All of the sudden those disgruntled fans were pretty silent...either that or they were singing high praises from the tops of their voices.
So which David Peterson is the real one?
Well, during 2020 he made 10 appearances, 9 of them as the starting pitcher. He was very good at keeping the opposition from accumulating hits. He went 49.2 innings and only gave up 36 hits. The strikeout numbers were modest at a 7.2 average per 9 IP, but the walks were bad. He was issuing over 4 free passes per game.
If you sit back and try to analyze what he’s capable of doing, the second start this year might be a good lens into what he might become in the future. The strikeout ability was there in the past. The control was there in the past. The fewer hits allowed was there as recently as the 2020 major league season.
It is unlikely to see a 13.5 K per 9 IP effort from him going forward nor is he going to be walkless for that same interval of time. However, if he can keep bats off the ball then he has the potential to be a more than adequate replacement for Steven Matz without the corresponding health problems that have derailed a lot of Matz’ career.
Well, if the Mets hung onto Matz and he had a bad season, it was time, innings and position in the standing thrown away. If he had a good season, then they were faced with a major payday come 2022.
The business decision made sense and it’s entirely possible that one or more of the three pitchers received from Toronto will amount to something as well. I’m not here to suggest David Peterson will become an All Star and make everyone forget Matz entirely, but positive strides cannot be ignored.
19 comments:
I am very hppy for Matz. His head got in the way playing for his hometown team.
As for Peterson?
Prayers.
Peterson has shown a lot to like so far. Keeping the walks down will be key to having a good 2021
Mack, I thought Peterson looked terrific in his last start. If that is not an aberration, and I don’t think it is, he should be an SP 5 pitching like an SP 3.
Matz did need to clear his head. I still think I would have kept him with the intent to try him in the bullpen.
Happy for Matz too... and David Peterson.
I had a cousin David Peterson, a left-handed pitcher from Brooklyn who got a (get ready for this...) BB and Band (trombone) scholarship to Duke in 1950. Blew his arm out as a sophomore, went into the army (trombone in US Army Band) and eventually returned to and graduated from Duke--a mechanical engineer.
Obviously I'm rooting for this David Peterson.
Hobie, great story, except for the blowing out his arm part.
If I still worked in New York at the ASME International organization I could have looked up Mechanical Engineer David Peterson :)
For some reason, I was always a Matz fan, and as long as he is on the Blue Jays, I will continue to be. Hope he realizes the potential he came with.
I also think Peterson has a higher ceiling. Obviously every game is not going to be as good as the other night, but when he is throwing strikes and mixing up the pitches, he is nasty. Glad they still have him.
I was so pleasantly surprised last year after a meh minor league career.
He has the talent.
We'll see...
That blows.
Why do we keep seeing better performance at the mlb level than the minors for many of the Mets::: are we babying them ?
Perhaps the best example of that phenomenon you mention is one Mr. Jacob de Grom who is far superior here than he was in the minors.
The Wilpon Mets have always babied te gupplies.
So has Sandy.
Let's see where they place them this opening day after being off for a year.
Challenge the kiddies as much as possible- the Crow this spring is a great example.
I didnt see the DeGrom 14k game but the 2nd Peterson game I thought was the most dominant performance by a SP this season. He looked so good. I'm really glad the Mets did not bury him in the minors to start the season.
It's hard to think too much about Matz. He was a FA at the end of the year and who exactly would he replace? DeGrom, Stroman, Walker are locks. You want Peterson to continue to develop as the future. Luchessi is only getting a few starts before Thor/Carrasco return. Instead they got some controllable assets for the future.
You wonder who they cut bait with once Lugo/Thor/Carrasco return. Gsellman is the only obvious answer. I guess thats a good problem to have. I would say Betances but I'm curious how Hildenberger will pan out.
Agreed on Peterson. I was thinking he would be a 1-year wonder, mostly because I don't think his stuff is much to write home about. But I love the poise, and think he'll carve out a nice career if he can stay healthy
If he can keep throwing that slider for strikes and sprinkle in that underrated fastball, he will definitely have a nice career - probably sitting at #3 or even #2 for several years. I keep falling back to the fact that he was a #1 pick and will show it soon .. perhaps that was the start of it.
Whenever we needed Matz to come up big he came up small.
He was just too unreliable.
Whoever gets cut/moved, it's a great "problem" to have. 👍
I wish Matz well, and hope he continues to make us miss him.
I still miss seeing his grandfather (wonder if he's still alive).
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