Inside The Mets

Mets' David Peterson struggles in second straight loss to Pirates

The Mets lefty has given up 10 earned runs over his last two starts.
Logan VanDine|
Jun 27, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson (23) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jun 27, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson (23) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

At a time when injuries have decimated the pitching rotation, the New York Mets were counting on David Peterson to pick up the slack.

But on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the lefty had a second straight concerning outing. After lasting just four innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in his previous start, Peterson lasted just 4.2 innings against Pittsburgh; although he struck out five batters, he also gave up five earned runs (four in the second inning) on seven hits while issuing three walks in a 9-1 series-opening loss.

For a Pirates team that entered Friday as one of the worst offensive teams in all of baseball, this was certainly not the outing the Mets were hoping for out of Peterson, especially after losing fellow starter Griffin Canning for the rest of the season with a ruptured left Achilles.

Read More: Mets' Griffin Canning placed on 60-day IL with ruptured left Achilles

Peterson's ERA has now climbed from 2.98 to 3.30 after this start against the Pirates, with the lefty hurler allowing 10 earned runs over his last two starts combined.

Manager Carlos Mendoza spoke about what's been going on with Peterson after back-to-back rough starts when he met with reporters following Friday's lopsided loss.

"One of those stretches where back-to-back outings, gotta go back, watch film and make some adjustments," Mendoza said. "When he's good, he's able to get the changeup, he's able to get swings and misses with his slider, getting weak groundballs, weak contact in the past couple of outings, obviously we haven't seen that."

Peterson pointed out his three free passes he issued as a reason for his struggles against the Pirates, saying after the game, "Giving up free bases is something we don't want to do. So yeah, it needs to get better."

New York currently has very few options for their rotation, as they're still waiting for Sean Manaea (right oblique strain) to make his season debut, while Kodai Senga (hamstring strain) and Tylor Megill (right elbow strain) are both on the injured list. So Peterson can ill afford to struggle on the mound and continue to tax the Mets' bullpen.

The Amazins' will hope for better fortunes on Saturday with Paul Blackburn on the mound for them, going up against the Pirates' Bailey Falter.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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