The Mets Have a David Peterson Problem They Must Address

David Peterson has no gone two months without being an effective starter for the Mets

May 26, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson (23) pitches in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Following another clunker of a start, lefty David Peterson now owns a 5.57 ERA on the year with a WHIP of 1.67, both of which would be the worst full-season marks of his Major League career.

Peterson was ineffective out of the gate, found some success behind an opener, but has crashed right back into brutality over his past few outings. His loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night was one of his worst outings of the season, and pushed him further into his struggles.

Peterson has been one of the most dependable and consistent starters in the game in recent years, yet has been anything but that in 2026. Against the Reds, the former first-round selection allowed an unimaginable 14 base runners over five complete innings, which comes out to allowing the same as one runner for every out he recorded aside from one. With that many runners, it is almost impressive that Peterson walked away with just five earned runs against him.

Peterson is now 12 appearances into his season and is becoming a serious issue for the Mets. In the final year of his contract, he has been both unreliable and ineffective, and New York can't keep running him out there every fifth day with the way that he has performed. With their season falling off the rails and eyes turning towards 2027, the Mets are going to need to decide on Peterson soon.

The decision they make won't be an easy one, but they need to figure out how to navigate what figure to be the final few months of Peterson's Mets tenure. For the benefit of the team, and considering he likely won't get a new deal in Queens, the Mets might need to move on from their homegrown starter sooner rather than later.

The Mets Need to Figure Out How To Handle Their David Peterson Problem

As mentioned before, Peterson is in the walk year of his initial rookie deal with New York, and most signs pointed to him not getting a new deal with the Mets unless he took another step forward. Instead, he has taken a major step backwards and become a serious liability for manager Carlos Mendoza and his squad.

New York should be focusing on further developing their younger pitching, especially the likes of Jonah Tong and Zach Thornton (who are limited on professional hitting), and Peterson might be standing in the way of that. They can't simply force a team to trade for Peterson tomorrow, but there is no reason for the Mets to hold on to the struggling veteran after the trading deadline.

Even before then, you could argue the Mets are better served with Peterson working out of the bullpen. A move to relief has started to work well for veteran Sean Manaea, who now owns an ERA under 4.00 in the month of May after a rocky start in the bullpen. For Peterson's sake, finding any way to recoup value before being a free agent should be a major priority.

As for New York, it's time to start focusing on 2027 and who could be starting games for them then. Christian Scott has already taken a new opportunity and run with it, and there is nothing to say that Tong or Thornton couldn't do the same. They can't fully get that chance with the lackluster Peterson still in the way -- the Mets owe it to themselves and their prospects to move on from Peterson and give them full rein of the rest of the season.