An upgraded starting pitching rotation was supposed to assuage some of the anxiety that New York Mets fans were feeling after bidding farewell to Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz this past offseason, but things have not gone exactly as planned on that front either. Although the team ranked top-10 in ERA entering Tuesday’s game versus the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Carlos Mendoza is receiving inconsistent production from his top arms.
Freddy Peralta was particularly ineffective in this series opener.
The two-time All-Star gave up six runs on six hits and walked two batters in six innings of work. He threw the Mets into a ditch, and the lineup was unable to dig itself out, leading to an anti-climactic 7-0 loss. Peralta is now 4-5 with a 4.04 ERA through 14 starts this season. Following the thumping in Citi Field, Mendoza shared his thoughts on how the Dominican right-hander has fared through his first eight weeks with the franchise.
“He’s been good for the most part,” the third-year skipper said, per the SNY Mets X account. “When you look at his numbers, there have been outings where it’s a grind for five innings but he gives us a chance to win a baseball game. There’s been a few of them where he’s been pretty good.
“And then there’s a couple of them like tonight – I think there was one in Miami, too – where, yes, he went six today, over there he went seven, but gave up a lot of runs. But for the most part, he continues to give us a chance to win baseball games.”
Carlos Mendoza was asked how he'd assess Freddy Peralta's body of work so far this year:
"He's been good for the most part. When you look at his numbers, there have been outings where it's a grind for five innings but he gives us a chance to win a baseball game. There's been a… pic.twitter.com/MWerFs5VWL
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 10, 2026
Carlos Mendoza is being fair to the man who was expected to be a co-ace alongside rookie Nolan McLean, but the Flushing Faithful may not be so understanding. Coming off the best season of his MLB career and entering a contract year, Freddy Peralta was expected to excel in his new home. While the results have been far from disastrous, the former Milwaukee Brewers game-changer is wobbling more often than the Mets can afford.
Trailing every National League team except for the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies, New York (29-37) faces an arduous climb into the playoff picture. An uneven Peralta will not suffice. The 30-year-old will try to ignite the ballclub and raise his free agency value when he next takes the mound.
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