The Mets moved left-hander David Peterson to the 60-day injured list earlier Saturday, but the placement didn’t have anything to do with the oblique strain that was already projected to keep Peterson out for roughly two months. Instead, Peterson suffered a Jones fracture in his right foot on Friday and will need to undergo surgery.
The injury apparently occurred in rather freakish fashion, as Mets manager Luis Rojas told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that Peterson “was just walking” through the team clubhouse on Friday “and he felt a pop. That’s it. He was very frustrated. He didn’t understand how this could happen.” Rojas wasn’t sure whether or not the surgery would end Peterson’s season, but between the recovery from the foot fracture and the still-ongoing rehab of a significant oblique strain, the odds don’t look good on Peterson getting back on the mound until at least late September.
The bad injury news compounds an already-tough sophomore season for Peterson. After emerging with a 3.44 ERA over 49 2/3 innings in 2020, the southpaw was looking to build on that strong rookie year as a fully minted member of New York’s rotation. Instead, Peterson posted a 5.54 ERA over 15 starts and 66 2/3 innings, with below-average Statcast numbers across the board. It wasn’t too different from Peterson’s 2020 numbers, except the lefty benefited from a .233 BABIP last year, and that number was normalized to a .306 mark in 2021.
Although Peterson already wasn’t expected to be back for another month, potentially losing him for the rest of the season will remove one more starting option for the injury-riddled Mets rotation. The Amazins just acquired Rich Hill to join a current rotation mix of Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker and rookie Tylor Megill, as ace Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard and more pitchers are still on the injured list.
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