Today’s Non-Roster Invitee preview comes via the prospect route in David Peterson. David Peterson was ranked the #2 prospect by Baseball America going into the 2018 season (we actually just recently posted an extended write up about him here) and it makes sense that he was given an NRI for this season.
The Mets are thin at prospects for starting pitching and David Peterson is a far way off, but he is trying to pitch his way into Binghamton and then later the 40 man roster this season. He was drafted 20th in the 2017 draft but didn’t see much playing time due to injury (ingrown toenail).
He was impressive last year in Columbia, posting a 1.82 ERA over 59.1 innings with a sparkling 0.961 WHIP (as stated in the Prospect Review, control is his major selling point) however he struggled in the transition to St. Lucie where he posted a 4.33 ERA over 68.2 innings with a 1.354 WHIP.
The three starting pitching prospects to look at in the Mets system are him, Thomas Szapucki and Anthony Kay. Unlike the the last two, Peterson is not coming off a major arm injury. I expect him to get a solid look early in spring training, especially during split squad season and when starters are throwing 1-2 innings. As soon as starters start throwing 3 and the split squad games are over he’ll probably go to minors camp to see a regular regime of innings.
