We knew entering the 2023 season the New York Mets rotation was old, and by extension, more susceptible to injury. We were just hoping that we could at least get to Opening Day, or at least the start of the World Baseball Classic, before the team had to face a starting pitcher injury.

As it turns out, José Quintana has a broken rib. As a result, he had to pull out of the World Baseball Classic, and he is almost a lock to be out on Opening Day. In reality, he may be out much longer than that. Of course, the hope is he misses as few starts as possible.

With Quintana out, it presents an opportunity for David Peterson. In some ways, this is really his first real chance to prove himself as a Major League starter.

Yes, he was a surprise add to the Mets 2020 roster during the pandemic shortened and impacted season. He performed better than anticipated. On the strength of that season, he was given a starting job at the outset of 2021. Unfortunately, he predictably failed, and his career has been in limbo ever since.

Since that time, Peterson has developed as a promising starting pitcher. We see he has excellent arm extension on his pitches. He has also developed into a pitcher who generates a high amount of strikeouts. His slider has become an excellent weapon, one that was one of the best in the majors last season.

Peterson has done all he could do in the minors. He now needs to be in the majors working on his craft with Jeremy Hefner. As an aside here, Hefner works extremely well with sinker/slider pitchers like Peterson. Hefner working with Peterson could very well have Peterson reaching another level of his game and/or becoming more consistent.

Peterson has earned this chance. He needs to be in this position. Now, it appears he is getting that chance to be a part of the Mets rotation. He now has to pitch so well the Mets simply cannot remove him from the rotation when everyone is healthy.