{"id":712250,"date":"2026-05-29T22:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/712250\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T22:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T22:45:14","slug":"mets-david-peterson-returning-to-bullpen-amid-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/712250\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets’ David Peterson returning to bullpen amid struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Peterson<\/a> is headed back to the bullpen.<\/p>\n

Amid the left-hander\u2019s early season struggles<\/a>, the Mets<\/a> are moving Peterson to a relief role with the expectation he will be available to pitch as soon as Sunday.<\/p>\n

Peterson could be used in \u201ca lot of different roles,\u201d including for multiple innings or as a traditional left-handed reliever, manager Carlos Mendoza said.<\/p>\n

Sean Manaea<\/a> \u2014 who is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in 12 appearances, all out of the bullpen \u2014 will now get an opportunity as either a starter or as the bulk pitcher behind an opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, [Peterson] understands the situation,\u201d Mendoza said before Friday night\u2019s series opener against the Miami Marlins at Citi Field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s best for the team right now, but I also told him that it\u2019s an important role, that we\u2019re gonna need him. This is something that will continue to be fluid. The performance matters here, too, and if he throws the ball well, the way he\u2019s capable of, he\u2019s going to continue to get opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson allowed six runs on 11 hits over five innings in his last start, a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

That dropped Peterson to 3-5 with a 5.57 ERA this season.<\/p>\n

The Mets have used Peterson both as a traditional starter and as the bulk pitcher behind an opener this year, and the results have been dramatically different.<\/p>\n

In seven starts, Peterson is 1-5 with a 7.56 ERA.<\/p>\n

In five relief appearances, all of which exceeded three innings, Peterson is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA.<\/p>\n

But Mendoza acknowledged Friday that Peterson could now be used in high-leverage situations if the right matchups present themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s too good of a pitcher, and we\u2019ve got to figure it out,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cOne thing that David does, he\u2019s not going to shy away from it. He\u2019s gonna keep going. He\u2019s going to continue to work and watch film and try to figure out what\u2019s going on here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson, 30, was an All-Star last season, but he struggled down the stretch, pitching to an 8.42 ERA over his final nine starts.<\/p>\n

Mendoza said it\u2019s difficult to pinpoint one main culprit for Peterson\u2019s issues this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a combination of him missing arm-side at times, not executing glove-side, pitch selection at times,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of a lot of things, but again, he\u2019s still a very good pitcher, and we\u2019ve seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n

SENGA\u2019S START<\/p>\n

Kodai Senga (back) feels fine physically after his second rehab start, and he\u2019s set to throw a bullpen session on Sunday before making another rehab appearance.<\/p>\n

The right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts in 3.2 innings for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday night, surrendering four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch over 80 pitches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting to a point where the results are important, too. There were three-ball counts a lot last night,\u201d Mendoza said Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, it\u2019s more [about] the physical part, but it\u2019s gonna get to a point where results matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senga, 33, went 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA in five starts before he landed on the injured list with lumbar spine inflammation late last month.<\/p>\n

In his two rehab starts, Senga has a 4.91 ERA over seven innings.<\/p>\n

ALVAREZ UPDATE<\/p>\n

Francisco Alvarez is making quick progress in his recovery from knee surgery and could start playing in rehab games as soon as next week.<\/p>\n

The catcher underwent surgery in mid-May for a torn meniscus in his right knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hit earlier today. He looks pretty normal. It\u2019s amazing,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cTwo weeks from surgery and this guy is doing everything. He\u2019s catching bullpens. He\u2019s blocking, throwing, running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alvarez\u2019s progression will include a build-up to where he\u2019s able to catch nine innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question will be, \u2018Is he gonna catch back-to-back [games for] nine innings in the minor leagues before we put him out here, or is it one of those where we can continue to build him up [in the majors]?\u2019 \u201d Mendoza said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Peterson is headed back to the bullpen. Amid the left-hander\u2019s early season struggles, the Mets are moving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,1443,759,1347,1716,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,1268],"class_list":["post-712250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-mets","tag-baseball","tag-carlos-mendoza","tag-david-peterson","tag-francisco-alvarez","tag-kodai-senga","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkmets","tag-sean-manaea"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116660294366632938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}