The Mets made a change in their first five games. Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that David Peterson it will go to the barn. On the left Sean Manaea will play every fifth day in his place, although the Mets have not decided if he will be a regular starter or more innings after the opener.
It is the second time this season that Peterson has been relieved. He has started seven of 12 outings, though most of his relief appearances have been as a big arm. It appeared briefly that Peterson would become a charity in late April. Injury to Kodai Senga again Clay Holmes a few weeks later pushed the southpaw back into the rotation.
Peterson has yet to find his footing this year. He has a 5.52 earned run average over 53 1/3 innings. His batting, walk and ground ball grades aren’t all that bad, but he’s been hurt by a .376 average on balls in play. Peterson was hit again in the second half of last season. He couldn’t work deep into games and didn’t show any signs of consistency. Peterson gave up six runs on 11 hits and three walks over five innings in Tuesday’s loss to the Reds.
It’s a tough time for the upcoming free agent. Peterson is playing with an arbitration salary of $8.1MM. He came into the season signed to a multi-year contract but now seems to be leaning toward a one-year cushion contract. Peterson came up in some trade talks over the winter and could make a switch before the deadline regardless of whether the Mets can get out of the hole they dug themselves into.
Manaea has played 12 games this year from the bench. His velocity was down during Spring Training, leading the Mets to move him to long relief. The declines were evident in his April results. Manaea allowed a 6.55 ERA through 22 innings in the first month-plus. He has been better of late, striking out 15 while giving up six runs (five earned) over his last 12 innings. He threw three mop-up innings behind Peterson on Tuesday, striking out six while allowing one run.
The veteran lefty is still working off his slowest velocity in years. He’s gotten more juice of late, though, averaging 91.4 mph on his fastball in May after sitting below 90 in April. He added two markers to the sink that were used frequently recently.
It certainly wasn’t the dominant way. Manaea is still allowing a .292/.375/.354 slash line in his last few improved weeks. At the same time, it is undeniable that his recent results have been better than Peterson’s. He will probably be on a short leash and can jump after a good opener like this Tobias Myers or Huascar Brazoban to stay away from the opponent’s top batsmen for the first time in the order. Manaea is in the second season of a three-year, $75MM free agent contract. He struggled to a 5.64 ERA in half a season last year after an oblique strain sidelined him in July.
Manaea’s first start or major league appearance will likely come Monday in Seattle. Freddy Peralta took the ball tonight in the series opener against the Marlins, a walk-off victory. Christian Scott again Nolan McLean we will get the next two games. They used the bullpen game in what would have been the fifth inning Wednesday, with Jonah Tong pitching the maximum amount of work (3 2/3 innings).
