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David Peterson was selected 20th overall in the 2017 draft and was placed immediately in Brooklyn. Peterson was known for his control his last year in college where he cut his walk rate from 3.5 BB/9 to 1.4. Baseball America tags him with an average fastball but with a slider that has drop (his out pitch to left handers).
He didn’t get a lot of playing time before publication. He only made three starts in Brooklyn totaling 4.0 innings (where he did post a 2.45 ERA). After being drafted he had a surgery to remove an ingrown toenail. Baseball America thinks he’ll project to a #3 or #4 starter.
So how did he fare in 2018?
David started the season off in Columbia where he posted a 1.82 ERA over 9 games and 59.1 innings. This includes a 0.961 WHIP, 1.7 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9. So basically everything that Baseball America said to look out for in his control was seen in Columbia. The Mets then moved him up to St. Lucie where he went from being just slightly older than the average player to the league to a full year younger. This wasn’t the smoothest transition. He ended the season with a 4.33 ERA over 13 games and 68.2 innings with a 1.354 WHIP, 2.5 BB/9 and 7.6 K/9. He still kept his walk rate down from his freshman and sophomore year in college and his jump to St. Lucie still went better than Justin Dunn‘s.
Ultimately, David Peterson had a really nice year. He probably starts next season at Binghamton with a late 2020 major league arrival date possible. Without Justin Dunn in the Mets system, and Thomas Szapucki coming off Tommy John, Peterson is by far the Mets #1 starting pitching prospect right now.
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