TRADE: Desperate Cubs Pick Up Left-Handed Starter David Peterson from Mets

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

It's not about finding playoff-caliber starters right now. It's not about building a bridge to a long-term winner, either. The Cubs simply have games to play this weekend, and too few healthy starting pitchers to fill the slots on their schedule. Feeling around in the dark, they scooped up the first thing they could grab hold of, acquiring David Peterson from the Mets in a late-night trade Wednesday. 

Jeff Passan of ESPN was first with the news, on Twitter. A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed that the teams have agreed to terms.

Peterson, 30, will be a free agent at season's end. He's running a hideous 6.09 ERA this season, in stark contrast with last year, when he made the National League All-Star team. However, below the surface, he's been almost the same guy in both years. In fact, per Baseball Prospectus, his DRA- for 2026 (90) is lower than the mark he put up last year (97).

Nothing Peterson throws misses bats very well, so he runs a below-average strikeout rate. However, his best pitch is a worm-killer of a sinker, with which he induces lots of ground balls. He's a fine fit for the Cubs, who not only have a good defense to put behind him but badly need a hurler who can keep the ball in the park more often.

With that inability to pile up strikeouts, Peterson will slide into the back end even of a atrociously depleted Cubs rotation, but he gives them stability and upside there. His fastball shapes fit the Cubs' predilections well. This deal could pave the way for the team to keep Peterson around relatively cheaply beyond this year, despite his impending free agency, and for now, it rescues them from needing to install the empty husk of Vince Velazquez in their rotation for any significant length of time.

According to Will Sammon of The Athletic, minor-leaguer Cole Mathis will go to New York in the trade. 

Mathis, 22, was a second-round pick in 2024 and has put up good numbers this year at High-A South Bend. That it took until his second full year in pro ball to get out of Myrtle Beach after playing high-level college ball, however, says something about his long-term outlook. It's a small price to pay for Peterson, but because of his contract status and his struggles this year, Peterson was extremely available. For now, this stabilizes the Cubs rotation.

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[Justspittintruths]

Why not just bring up Will Sanders and give him a shot? I’m not going to cry over losing Cole Mathis, but it’s still a complete waste of a recent second round draft pick. And anyone who wants to claim we need someone to eat innings can stuff it where their proctologist earns his money….pretty damn sure that there are plenty of guys at Triple-A or even Double-A who can get beat like a rented mule to the tune of a 6 plus ERA.

[Jason Ross]

42 minutes ago, Justspittintruths said:

Why not just bring up Will Sanders and give him a shot? I’m not going to cry over losing Cole Mathis, but it’s still a complete waste of a recent second round draft pick. And anyone who wants to claim we need someone to eat innings can stuff it where their proctologist earns his money….pretty damn sure that there are plenty of guys at Triple-A or even Double-A who can get beat like a rented mule to the tune of a 6 plus ERA.

David Peterson career: 22.6 K%, 9.8 BB%, 4.31 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 3.86 xFIP
David Peterson 2025: 20.7 K%, 9.0 BB%, 4.22 ERA, 3.48 FP, 3.72 FIP 
David Peterson 2026: 19.7 K%, 9.4 BB%, 6.09 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 4.05 xFIP

What's the only number that stands out from his career line (over the course of 690 IP, and 123 starts), his 2025 season (Peterson made the 2025 all-star team) and his 2026? It's his ERA in this year only. He's an extreme ground ball pitcher. Did you watch game-2 of the DH yesterday? The Mets infield made 6-errors on their own. They're a -8 OAA as an infield. His LOB% this season is 60%. That is unsustainably low. It's obvious why his ERA is 6.00. It's not really a David Peterson issue.

No one should claim Peterson as a star, because he isn't. But he's also a pitcher highly dependent on infield defense and the Mets have been abysmal in this category. The Cubs are a +19 OAA on the infield, which is one of the very, very best. We should expect his ERA with the Cubs to be around the xFIP marker, if not a bit better considering his defense is going to help him out in this regards.

Don't be a single issue voter and just attach yourself to the ERA. The story of David Peterson is deeper than his 6.00 ERA. 

[squally1313]

Breaking the unofficial 'don't link to twitter' thing to post a montage of hits (not errors) that our new pitcher has given up.

https://x.com/brendan_cubs/status/2070000488838517178?s=20

[mul21]

25 minutes ago, squally1313 said:

Breaking the unofficial 'don't link to twitter' thing to post a montage of hits (not errors) that our new pitcher has given up.

https://x.com/brendan_cubs/status/2070000488838517178?s=20

Oof, lots of hard contact in the second half of that.  That said, the Cubs probably turn 8-10 of those into outs  through better fielding, positioning, or range.

[Outshined_One]

[NorthsideAvenger]

Drew Pomeranz is back apparently.

[mk49]

5 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Drew Pomeranz is back apparently.

Is he, really?  I think that'll help.

[Jason Ross]

2 minutes ago, mk49 said:

Is he, really?  I think that'll help.

Yep. MiLB deal. 

[mk49]

5 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Yep. MiLB deal. 

Thank you.  Very cool.  I like both moves, Peterson and Pomeranz.

Edited Thursday at 05:14 PM by mk49