Mets’ David Peterson feeling...

Mets pitchers and catchers officially report this week, and over the past few days, we’ve seen more and more players make their way into camp. Among the early arrivals in Port St. Lucie is lefty David Peterson. It’s certainly nice to see the youngster ready to roll, as he has a tall task ahead of him this spring.

After an offseason that saw Billy Eppler and the Mets completely revamp their starting rotation, impressive starters Peterson and Tylor Megill now appear to be on the outside looking in at a rotation spot.

While the Mets still haven’t told him his exact role just yet, Peterson knows he has to battle for a spot this spring. The 27-year-old recently told Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo that he’s excited about the opportunity and welcomes the challenge.

“There’s always competition. You never really want it to be easy or get comfortable. Whether it’s someone in my position competing or its someone like a (Max) Scherzer and a (Justin) Verlander, who are two high-level pitchers that want to go out there and compete.”

"There’s not a whole lot of complacency in terms of attitude in this rotation or on this team, so I take it as a great challenge and something I look forward to. When you have that many guys competing for spots and wanting to get better it only helps the team going forward.”

Peterson is coming off a terrific 2022 campaign. He stepped up numerous times, jumping into the Mets' rotation, and pitching out of the bullpen. Across 28 outings, 19 starts, he posted a 3.83 ERA and punched out 126 batters for a strikeout rate of 27.8 percent.

Peterson and Megill now seem destined for a bullpen spot or a trip to Triple-A Syracuse to stay stretched out as depth, barring injury or an excellent spring showing. Despite that, the young southpaw remains confident in himself to be a member of the big league rotation.

“I see myself as a big league starter and I have the confidence in myself to be a starter in this rotation,” Peterson said. “I think I’ve proven to myself that I can go out and be a high level big league starter.”

“But there’s nothing in this game that’s given. You’ve gotta go out and earn it every single day.”