David Peterson was the only arm out of the starting rotation the Mets could rely on to give the team length.
Entering Wednesday's game against the Braves, Peterson had six consecutive starts where he went six innings (a career-high) and in 15 of his last 22 starts. That would not continue on Wednesday as Peterson's fourth-inning implosion led to nine runs and an eventual 11-6 loss. Of those nine runs, six were charged to Peterson thanks to walks and getting behind in counts.
"He lost the strike zone, missing a lot armside and the walks, especially when you’re walking the bottom of the lineup," manager Carlos Mendoza said of Peterson's fourth inning. "The inning started with four straight balls…they made him pay."
In the fourth, Peterson allowed four walks and two hits before being pulled for Reed Garrett. The right-handed reliever could not get out of the inning, as the Braves capped off the inning with a grand slam from Michael Harris II.
Peterson allowed six earned runs for the first time in a game since May 15, 2023, at Washington and for the sixth time in his 124 career outings. His 3.1 innings pitched also marked his shortest start since Aug. 4, 2023.
But starters have bad outings throughout a 162-game season, but this has become an epidemic for the Mets' starting rotation. With Peterson's short outing, the Mets starters have gone a full turn — including Frankie Montas' bulk outing — without going five innings.
When asked why his starters haven't been able to give the team length, Mendoza pointed to one reason.
"When you look at the last couple of nights, we lost the strike zone," Mendoza said. "Pretty much with all of them, giving free passes. Teams are going to make you pay. Top of my head, that’s been the biggest thing for me. We haven’t been able to get a shutdown inning, especially when we get the lead like that. It’s frustrating."
"Yeah, it’s frustrating. We’re not holding up our end, and we need to do better," Peterson said of the rotation not giving length. "[Fixing it] starts with analyzing the performance and turning the page and moving on to the next one."
The team has received only 594.1 innings from starters this season, which is 27th in the majors. Since June 13, they have been last in that category.
"We got the coaches looking at pretty much everything, trying to figure it out," Mendoza said of this stretch of losses for the Mets. "How can we continue to help these guys, especially the guys from the rotation. We know the talent’s there, we just haven’t been able to get much from them, especially this last time through. Not easy, but understanding, we have to keep going."
The Mets will look to win their series with the Braves on Thursday before hosting the Mariners over the weekend. Pitching prospect Nolan McLean will start Saturday's game, and perhaps the youthful arm can give the team the length from the rotation they are desperate for.
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