Mets' David Peterson scratched from Tuesday's start
Mets starting pitcher David Peterson delivers against the Marlins during the first inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Mets’ already struggling starting rotation got more bad news on Tuesday night.
Rookie lefthander David Peterson was scratched from his assigned start against the Miami Marlins because of soreness in his left shoulder and is headed for the 10-day injured list.
The Mets expected Peterson to be able to make Tuesday’s start against Miami at Marlins Park after going through his between-game routine with no complaints.
“We went to bed [Monday] night thinking that David Peterson was going to be our starter, and I woke up this morning thinking that Peterson was going to be our starter,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said.
But when Peterson, who is 3-1 and has pitched 21 2/3 innings to a 2.91 ERA, awakened, Rojas said he did not feel right.
“The decision was just to be more careful [with the] shoulder soreness and we didn’t really want to push it," he said. "That’s why we’re making the move to go to the IL and [give] the ball to [Corey] Oswalt, who’s fresh.”
Oswalt pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the Mets' 8-3 win at Miami Monday night.
The Mets’ rotation already had enough troubling issues before Peterson’s injury.
On Wednesday, ace Jacob deGrom is starting after missing a turn in the rotation because of a stiff neck.
The Mets haven’t committed to starting Steven Matz in the four-game series finale on Thursday because he has a 14.66 ERA over his last 11 2/3 innings.
Franklyn Kilome, who pitched three innings in Monday’s 11-4 win over the Marlins, remains a potential fill-in for Matz, though he threw 73 pitches on Monday for his first career save.
Peterson will undergo an MRI on Wednesday, according to Rojas.
“We’ll definitely come back to it and see what the next step is,” Rojas said.
Peterson was described by Rojas as “a breath of fresh air” because he had rescued the Mets’ rotation. In each of his four starts, he pitched at least five innings.
Rojas described Peterson’s surprising contribution as “a great break for us,” but he may not end up being that.
“That’s just the nature of this 2020 season,” Dom Smith said. “It’s going to be a weird year. It’s going to be a tough year, whether we lose guys to COVID, whether our guys are getting banged up.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
