Heading into this season, there were no guarantees that
More pertinent to the Mets’ future is Peterson, who finished his rookie year 6-2 with a 3.44 ERA. Along the way, he gave the Mets plenty of reason for optimism.\n\n• Box score\n\n“David Peterson’s an excellent pitcher,” closer
**The tools**\n\nAlthough Peterson was a first-round Draft pick in 2017, he never ranked highly on national prospect lists, in part because of his lack of velocity. The left-hander generally topped out in the low 90s in the Minors before raising eyebrows with heaters that regularly hit 95 mph this spring. It was enough for the Mets to turn to him when
Overall as a rookie, Peterson averaged 4.35 walks per nine innings, partially by design. Part of his game is built around tempting hitters to chase; he has thrown more than 56 percent of his pitches outside the strike zone, which isn’t entirely by accident. But as he has progressed, he has grown more comfortable challenging hitters with his fastball, making his slider more potent because he’s ahead in the count more often.\n\n“He’s getting better and better,” Chirinos said. “The first time I caught him, his stuff was good, but it was not consistent. … After that, he started getting more \\[over\\] the plate with his stuff. And his stuff is really good.”
**The opportunity**\n\nOutside of