How Mets' David Peterson Was Able to 'Turn the Page' in His Latest Outing

New York Mets pitcher David Peterson bounced back with his best start of the season against the Cubs on Monday night.

MLB.com

It's been an ugly two-start stretch for New York Mets pitcher David Peterson, who gave up nine runs in his last three innings entering Monday night's contest with the Cubs. 

However, the youngster, who has shown poise in the early part of his career, was able to wipe the slate clean in order to go out there and dominate in his latest outing.

Peterson tossed his best start of the season, stifling the Cubs' lineup with a career-high six shutout innings on 73 pitches, while giving up just one hit along the way to go along with three strikeouts and two walks.

A strong game from David Peterson tonight vs. the Cubs 💪

6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 K pic.twitter.com/GxuJAGbSRw

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 15, 2021

Despite issuing leadoff walks in two separate innings, which has hurt him in previous starts this year, Peterson kept his composure and this time, did not let things snowball.

He also had a nifty pickoff (second of the season) to get out of the third when he caught Eric Sogard leaning off second base.

Sharp pickoff move by David Peterson to catch former Face of MLB first runner-up Eric Sogard napping at second. Impressive.

Mets 0, Cubs 0, mid-three. pic.twitter.com/icG6INqSab

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 15, 2021

The left-hander finished off his night with a huge strikeout of Wilson Contreras on an impressive 82 mph slider to end the sixth.

And according to his manager Luis Rojas - who talked to Peterson in between his last clunker of a start and Monday to see what he was thinking - this pitch, along with his command, carried him through this impressive outing.

"He’s human, right?" Rojas said. "He didn’t deny that he thought a lot of things, just from past performances. We had a different talk in between this start and the last one, and he was honest with me about how he was approaching things. I told him he shouldn’t be thinking about anything else other than competing and getting guys out. Because he has really good stuff and he showed it again tonight. I’m glad he stuck to trusting his stuff and not thinking negatively with his approach."

"He was attacking batters and wasn't shying away from the zone, " said Rojas. "The command and the slider, he had it since the first inning."

After the game, Peterson spoke about his bounce back performance and how significant it was to have his slider working for him against a tough Cubs' lineup.

"Being able to execute it by working on it when it is or isn't good," said Peterson. "When you are struggling with something you put a little more emphasis on it. I put more focus on it in between starts and I think it has helped."

"I think it came down to just being able to execute," he added. "And I was able to execute pitches throughout the night."

The hope is, that this promising performance will boost his confidence and can help build some momentum moving forward.

The Mets need Peterson to pitch like he did in his rookie season, where he went 6-2 with a 3.44 ERA. And luckily, he was able to replicate this previous form on Monday.

Peterson knows what he is capable of given his past accomplishments at the big-league level. And this aspect has helped him fight through this touch stretch.

"It's about turning the page and getting on to the next one and building off the positives," said Peterson. "Its happened in the past and it gives me confidence because I've done it before."

"I think the goal is to take every start one pitch at a time," he said. "When you simplify it down to that, the results will come."

Morgan Freeman voice: And the results did come. 

With Peterson's latest gem, Mets starters have produced a 0.89 ERA in their last turn through the rotation, and now have the best staff ERA in baseball at 2.72. They also lead the league with 34 starts of allowing one run or fewer this season, per New York Mets Stats.

According to Peterson, the rest of the rotation's dominance motivates him to pitch better, and last night was a huge step in the right direction for the southpaw.