Mets Notes: David Peterson's strong first start of season; Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette needing more reps at new positions
· Yahoo Sports
After the Mets came from behind twice to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza and starterDavid Petersondiscussed the win...
David Peterson's "good first one"
While New York's bats struggled until extra innings, the left-hander did all he could to give the team a chance by keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard.
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Peterson tossed 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just six hits while striking out three and walking two. After the game, he talked about how things went during his first outing of the 2026 season.
"Felt good,” Peterson said. “Felt like our plan was working and Alvy [catcher Francisco Alvarez] and I were on the same page. Things were running pretty smooth. Nice to be able to get ahead of hitters and have the count in our advantage most of the day. Some really good defense behind us. Good first one.”
In addition to battling the Pirates revamped lineup, Peterson and the Mets dealt with cold, windy weather at Citi Field. Luckily, the lefty didn't let the conditions get to him, simply focusing on each pitch throughout the game.
"It didn’t change anything for me," Peterson said. "We had our plan and I was just trying to execute every single pitch, and whatever happened happened. I didn’t take too much into account. Like I said, I was just trying to focus on executing one pitch at a time and going as deep as I could and giving our team a chance to win.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza noted that Peterson is "at his best" when he's forcing opponents to hit ground balls and not letting runners on base rattle him. Peterson forced nine groundouts in the win and, like Mendoza noted, forced a clutch pop-out against Marcell Ozuna with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning to keep the game tied at 0-0.
“I thought he was very good," Mendoza said. "When Peterson is getting ground balls, when he’s keeping the ball in the ground, that’s when he’s at his best. He did that today. He was pitch efficient. I thought he mixed well. He attacked, got strike one, got swing and misses. Kept hitters off-balance.
“And then when they created traffic, that’s what makes Petey who he is. When there’s runners on base, his ability to slow the game down, his ability to make pitches when he needs to. Bases loaded there with Ozuna with two outs. Like I said, he’s got that ability to continue to trust himself and continue to execute pitches, and he was able to do that today.”
Bullpen doing their job
After Peterson's day was done against the Pirates, Mendoza turned to six different relief pitchers in the 11-inning win.
Huascar Brazobán, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, and Devin Williams all kept the score 0-0 through the ninth inning to force extras. Luis García allowed one unearned run in the 10th and Richard Lovelady allowed another unearned run in the 11th inning, giving the Mets offense the chance they needed in the bottom of the inning, down 2-1.
“Can you name everyone that pitched today?” Peterson said with a laugh. “I mean we used everybody. The bullpen did an incredible job, every guy was ready for the task. Came in and did their job. Just an overall amazing performance on both sides of the ball.
"Really proud of those guys in the bullpen, just one after another coming in and getting their outs, keeping us in the game, and giving us a chance to win."
More defensive reps for Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette
It's been talked about all winter and spring training that having two players with little-to-no experience at their position will be a risk for the Mets. Those defensive concerns were on display Saturday night, as both first baseman Jorge Polanco and third baseman Bo Bichette had some struggles at their new positions.
Bichette had a couple of throws run wide on Polanco at first, including one that was ruled an error in the top of the fourth inning. Polanco also dealt with a few tough fielding plays that luckily didn't cost New York.
“Just reps, they got to continue to work,” Mendoza said. “The Polanco ones, especially that error, I think they gave him an error, hard ground ball that came up on him, there’s so much there that you can do. With Bo, we just got to continue to work with him on those routines throws.”
Mendoza was also asked about a play in the top of the 11th inning, when Bryan Reynolds reached first safely on a dribbler down the third base line that somehow stayed fair and allowed the runner from third to score, and if Bichette or Lovelady should've fielded the ball.
“I couldn’t believe that it stayed fair. I don’t think anybody makes that play," Mendoza said. "Off the bat, I thought it was a foul ball. So no, none of them had a chance there."
While none of the miscues cost the Mets the game, they could have easily, and both players will need to continue to work on the little things throughout the year.