Mets' David Peterson likely won't make his next start
Mets starting pitcher David Peterson delivers in the first inning of the team's baseball game against Atlanta on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Credit: AP/John Bazemore
ATLANTA — David Peterson will very likely miss one start if not more, according to preliminary tests on the right-side pain that took him out of the game Wednesday. The Mets, though, are seeking more clarity on the diagnosis and will conduct further tests when they return to New York, Luis Rojas said.
"He’s very tight today," Rojas said of his starter. "We’re all in agreement that we want to get to New York just to use our doctors and have more clarification on what the diagnosis here is and just to see exactly what he has and probably have, not a timeline, per se, but the gravity of the injury he has."
Peterson left in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game with what Rojas called concerning sharp right-side pain. Prior to that, his fastball velocity was down — hovering around the high 80s and low 90s — and he was struggling, giving up six runs, five earned on eight hits, in three innings plus two batters.
Peterson’s injury exacerbates an already difficult rotation situation, as the Mets lost Joey Lucchesi to Tommy John surgery and have had to work around minor injuries of Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman in the last month.
Rojas said he doesn’t know who will take Peterson’s spot yet, but that both Corey Oswalt and Thomas Szapucki, who made his major-league debut in mop-up duty Wednesday, are options.
Carrasco progresses
Carlos Carrasco (hamstring) has progressed from throwing off the low slope of the mound to throwing full sides off the rubber, Rojas said. If he continues to do well and shows progress in his strength tests, the Mets will set up a rehab assignment.
They are the future
Infielder Brett Baty and catcher Francisco Alvarez were selected to the All-Star Futures game. Baty was selected 12th overall in the 2019 draft, and is the Mets’ fourth-best prospect, according to MLB.com. Alvarez was signed as an undrafted free agent and is ranked first in the organization.
Laura Albanese is a general assignment sports reporter; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.