David Peterson's Problems Persist for Mets in Loss to Orioles

New York Mets pitcher David Peterson has been wildly inconsistent this season, and he had another rough outing on Tuesday night.

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Talk about a sophomore slump.

The Mets have a serious problem and it involves the No. 4 spot in their starting rotation.

Following an ugly outing in Arizona, second-year pitcher David Peterson's issues persisted on Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles, as he gave up four runs on eights hits (season-high) in just 2.2 innings.

After working through a scoreless first inning, Peterson ran into serious trouble in the second. The left-hander fell apart, giving up three runs on three extra-base hits, as the Orioles took a 3-2 lead.

Peterson was lifted in the following inning with two outs, after surrendering his fourth earned run of the night.

"I think we are just going through a rough patch right now," said Peterson after the game. "All I can keep doing is show up and work hard to get back on the straight and narrow."

"It's about executing all of my pitches," added Peterson. "There isn't anything too different than when things are going right."

"My slider has been more inconsistent than in the past. But it's something we are working on. We've been trying to work on it in between starts and get that good feel for it."

Unfortunately, with the exception of two starts, Peterson just hasn't been able to avoid that one bad inning in the majority of his outings this season.

Last night marked the sixth time Peterson has allowed three-or-more runs in an inning, which is the second-worst mark in the majors.

Peterson has now given up 19 runs in his last 22.2 innings. His ERA has risen from 5.89 to 6.32 after his latest disappointing performance. 

Despite his struggles, manager Luis Rojas still committed to Peterson making his next start.

"He is one of our starters and you guys know that's one place that right now we lack some guys," said Rojas following Tuesday's loss."Right now, I can tell you after this game that he will be making his next start. We just need to keep working hard with him."

Left-hander Thomas Szapucki has a 2.05 ERA and 25 strikeouts in four starts in Triple-A. With Peterson's struggles, it's possible that we could see Szapucki up with the big league club.

However, the Mets are in need of starting pitching with several double headers coming up later this month. Even if Szapucki makes a start, the Mets need Peterson to perform due to minimal replacement options.

"We need to get him right," said Rojas. "We need David Peterson."

"(Joey) Lucchesi made some adjustments and has given us some good innings," said Rojas. "Peterson can do the same, we just need to get him right."

"The poise and the stuff are there, he just needs that command," Rojas added. 

But something must be done with Peterson in order to salvage his once promising career, which has fallen on hard times. The Mets will keep working with him in between starts until he gets back to the same  pitcher, who endured success as a rookie a season ago.

If Peterson is unable to find himself, there isn't really a whole lot the Mets can do with him given their lack of starting pitching depth due to a various amount of injuries within the organization.