David Peterson – Mets (MLB Network Twitter)

When it comes to the draft, some say Sandy Alderson just gets it. That appears to have been the case last night, even if the Mets had the 20th pick in the MLB Draft. With that pick, the team selected Oregon standout pitcher David Peterson. 

This season was one to remember for the 6-foot-6, 240 pound Peterson. In 100 1/3 innings, he went 11-4 with a 2.51 ERA. Want to here some sexy stats? He only walked 15 batters and struck out 140. His fastball reaches 94 MPH, and he backs it up with a wicked slider, curveball and changeup. 

It has been an interesting journey for David Peterson. In 2014, he was a 28th round pick out of high school by the Boston Red Sox. Peterson decided to go to Oregon instead. Three years later, the Mets were at the right place at the right time. When word got out that he got drafted, reaction videos were a must. The Oregon baseball Twitter handle made sure to share the epic news. An emotional Peterson was consoled by family and friends in a moment he will never forget.  

httpss://twitter.com/OregonBaseball/status/874436289361100800

His control and location is something that must have caught the Mets’ attention, especially when he struck out 20 batters against Arizona State. The start of his college career had it’s interesting moments. Between his freshman and sophomore year, Peterson went 8-11 during his first 27 starts. His strikeouts were down and his walks were up. Something clicked afterward however. Peterson had about a 17.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio this year, according to minorleagueball.com, a stat that lead all of D1 baseball. 

According to several reports, the Mets have considered him a key piece to the future starting rotation. He could end up providing insurance in the case of an injury. 

It will be interesting to see how Peterson adapts to all of this change. He is a big league ballplayer now. The Mets will likely add more pitcher’s as the draft continues throughout the next few days. Peterson can say he was the first of 2017 though.