Injured New York Mets Starter Begins Rehab With Perfect Outing

New York Mets starting pitcher David Peterson took his first step toward a return to the Majors with Class-A St. Lucie on Sunday.

Peterson and the Mets faced the Daytona Tortugas and Peterson was long gone by the time New York rallied to beat the Tortugas, 8-7.

But in the left-hander’s two innings, he retired all six batters he faced and struck out five of them.

This was Peterson’s first game action since last season with the Mets. In November, he underwent surgery to repair a damaged labrum in his left hip. That surgery came with a recovery timetable of six to seven months.

Sunday’s start marks Peterson closing in on the six-month mark.

Peterson is on the 60-day injured list and is eligible to return on May 27.

New York has two starting pitchers on the injured list. Tylor Megill is on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain and isn’t expected to return until mid-May. Kodai Senga is on the 60-day injured list with a right posterior shoulder capsule strain and isn’t expected back until June.

Peterson, the 28-year-old Arcadia, Calif., native, has pitched for the Mets since 2020 and is 18-21 with a 4.51 ERA in 80 games (64 starts).

In 2022 he went 7-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 28 games (19 starts). Last season he took a bit of a step back in 27 games (21 starts), as he went 3-8 with a 5.03 ERA.

New York selected Peterson in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft out of Oregon.