The Mets are making a switch in their starting five. Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) that David Peterson will move to the bullpen. Lefty Sean Manaea will pitch every fifth day in his stead, though the Mets haven’t determined whether he’ll be a traditional starter or pitch bulk innings behind an opener.
It’s the second time this season that Peterson has been bumped to relief. He has started seven of 12 outings, though most of his relief appearances have been as the bulk arm. It did seem briefly that Peterson would be a traditional reliever in late April. Injuries to Kodai Senga and Clay Holmes a few weeks later pushed the southpaw back into the rotation.
Peterson hasn’t found his footing this year. He has a 5.52 earned run average over 53 1/3 innings. The strikeout, walk and ground-ball marks aren’t all that bad, but he has been victimized by a .376 average on balls in play. Peterson also got knocked around in the second half of last season. He hasn’t been able to work deep into games and hasn’t shown any signs of consistency. Peterson gave up six runs on 11 hits and three walks over five innings in a loss to the Reds on Tuesday.
It’s rough timing for the impending free agent. Peterson is playing on an $8.1MM arbitration salary. He entered the season as a multi-year deal candidate but now seems to be trending towards a one-year pillow contract. Peterson came up in some trade chatter over the winter and could move in a change of scenery deal before the deadline regardless of whether the Mets are able to pull out of the hole they’ve dug themselves.
Manaea has made all 12 of his appearances this year from the bullpen. His velocity was down during Spring Training, leading the Mets to move him to long relief. The diminished stuff certainly showed up in his April results. Manaea allowed a 6.55 ERA across 22 innings through the first month-plus. He has performed better of late, striking out 15 while giving up six runs (five earned) over his past 12 innings. He tossed three innings of mop-up work behind Peterson on Tuesday, striking out six while allowing one run.
The veteran lefty is still working with the lowest velocity of his career. He has found some extra juice of late, though, averaging 91.4 mph on his fastball in May after sitting below 90 in April. He has added two ticks to a sinker that he’s using more frequently of late.
It certainly hasn’t been dominant form. Manaea is still allowing a .292/.375/.354 slash line in his improved last few weeks. At the same time, it’s inarguable that his more recent results have been better than Peterson’s. He’ll probably be on a short leash and could pitch behind a righty opener like Tobias Myers or Huascar Brazobán to stay away from an opponent’s top hitters the first time through the order. Manaea is in the second season of a three-year, $75MM free agent deal. He struggled to a 5.64 ERA in a half-season last year after an oblique strain shelved him into July.
Manaea’s first start or bulk appearance will likely come on Monday in Seattle. Freddy Peralta took the ball tonight in the series opener against the Marlins, a walk-off win. Christian Scott and Nolan McLean will get the next two games. They used a bullpen game for what would’ve been the fifth starter role on Wednesday, with Jonah Tong taking the plurality of the work (3 2/3 innings).
